A Life After
by TristaDin
Summary: It has been a year and a half since Duo dissapeared. Now they've found him again, but at what price? Something about their friend has changed, and it will lead to a battle greater than the one they just finished fighting. As always, failure means death1x2
1. To See You Again

A/N: Yay! My first fic up here, I've got more written so some updates will be quick, but I have to get over a small wall before I can get to where my creative process is taking me. It'll be fast up to a point, but then it might slow down, so please bear with me! Thanks, and hope you enjoy it!

Oh yeah, Heero is a bit OOC, sorry, but that's just how I wrote him in this one.

I don't own GW, if I did, you would know, because Heero would be dating Duo and Relena would have died a hideous, agonizing death loooooong ago.

Ch. 1

It was a year and a half since the end of the war. A year and a half in which Duo had gone missing. Heero couldn't help but wonder about where he had gone. Throughout the war they had fallen in love, and towards the end had almost become… lovers. They hadn't ever gone beyond kissing because they had to be ready for a mission at any time yet… Heero found himself wondering if there was something he could have done to prevent his love's disappearance. Perhaps if they hadn't hidden it so well…

Heero sighed as he leaned against the outside wall of the restaurant. It could simply be because they were being required to go through high school; for whatever strange reason. They were halfway through their sophomore year when Sally had switched where they were going to, making them go to a new school on this colony. She said she had found a surprise for them there at the school. Other than that, she had left them in the dark about what was so special about this place. Hopefully it wasn't simply the fact that one of the guys from the council lived here. He was throwing them a welcome party at his home Sunday; it was currently Saturday afternoon. Heero sighed again, why was he being so compliant? He was even putting up with more and more of Relena's strange notions that he was in love with her.

"Heero?" he suddenly heard a familiar voice call. It couldn't be… He turned in shock and disbelief to see Duo running up the street in a pair of ragged jeans and a black t-shirt. Duo's face lit up as he got a clearer view of Heero's face. "It _is_ you!" he cried. Surprised at Duo's sudden reappearance, Heero stood there dumbfounded as Duo pounced on him, hugging him for all he was worth. Almost as if he was afraid to let go. "Wow! How have ya been, buddy?! God, with Relena's tight rope I never thought I'd be able to see you again!!"

"D-Duo?" Heero finally managed to get out as he processed Duo's ramblings. "What?" Duo pulled away and smiled cheerfully at him.

"Oh, the same old story," he answered. "Relena thinks I'm stealing you from her so she tries to get me into a mental institute, yet to do that they have to run DNA tests to see who your family is, and—wonder of wonders—they found that I match with Mr. Sullivan. Isn't that weird?!"

"Wait," Heero interjected, "Mr. Sullivan is your _dad_?" Duo shrugged.

"Apparently, although he's not much of one, let me tell you." Duo laughed. The laughter slowly subsided as they stood there starring at each other. "It's so good to see you again, Heero," Duo broke the silence.

Heero smiled. Surprising himself and Duo he hugged the other boy and told him, "I never thought I'd see you again." Duo returned the embrace with a gentle smile.

"Take a walk with me and I'll explain everything," Duo told him. Heero pulled away and nodded. Duo started off down the street, and Heero followed by his side.

"So," Duo explained, "Like I said, Relena decided that shoving me in a mental institute for 'post-war stress' was the best way to keep me away from you."

"That would have made me stick by your side even more than usual," Heero interjected. Duo laughed.

"So that plan would have backfired. Anyway, after they ran extensive tests for a week they couldn't deny that I was Jhonathan Sullivan's son. Relena thought this was even better, seeing as how such a proper stuck up guy wouldn't allow my being gay—like he could do anything about it, he can hardly control me as it is—and shipped me off to him. I've been going to the local high school here, which isn't that bad really, if you discount the gold diggers who got pissed because I wouldn't play their game and started hating me. I also gained a brother and a sister from dear old 'daddy'. He's having a hard time dealing with me, I almost feel sorry for him."

Duo saw Heero raise an eyebrow. "_Almost_," he emphasized. "So what brings you to this colony," Duo inquired now that he was done explaining.

"Sally said there was a surprise here for us and transferred us to a school here," Heero answered.

"And have you found the surprise yet?" Duo joked.

Heero took Duo's hand in his own and answered, "Yes, the best one of all."

Duo blushed and stammered out, "H-Heero… are you certain about this? We're in public and I thought…"

"Duo," Heero interrupted. "All I've been able to think about is how many times I left wasted that I could have held you just one last time." Heero brought Duo's hand up to his lips. "I don't want to feel that kind of regret again, not when I finally get to see you once more. I want to spend every moment I can with my angel, for who knows when heaven will whisk him off again, never to be seen?" Heero kissed Duo's hand as Duo turned a pretty pink color. Heero met his eyes, and Duo could see the love in them. He smiled lovingly back.

"Why would heaven want me back when I've fallen so far?" Duo asked him.

"A fact I thank the lord for every day," Heero smoothly replied. Duo laughed and got closer to him.

"Relena can't do shit about what's not hers," he told Heero, hugging him with his other arm. "That is, if you still want a Shinigami like me after a year and a half." Heero smiled and hugged him back with the arm not holding his hand.

"You've been all I've wanted during that time, how could I not want you now?" Duo smiled, leaning his head against Heero's shoulder.

Duo sighed. "What a really bad time for your bladder to speak up, huh?" Duo asked him. Heero laughed as Duo pulled away and disappeared into a store with an apologetic look. An idea struck him out of nowhere, and Heero got out his phone to make a call while Duo was in the bathroom.

When Duo came back out he could tell by the glint in Heero's eyes that he had done something he was proud of. "What'd you do to look so smug," Duo asked as he walked over. Heero merely smiled and took his hand. It felt wonderful to Duo to just be able to be a normal couple like this. Well… as normal as you could get when you're gay war heroes.

"Would you like to go out with me tonight," Heero asked. Duo looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"You mean a date date or a friend's outing?"

"A real date," Heero answered. Duo lit up brighter than a christmas tree.

"I'd love too!"

"Great, I'll pick you up at 6:30 so we can be at the restaurant by 7."

"Tonight?" Heero nodded as an answer to Duo's question. "Then I'll have to take you back to the house with me, Amaria and Rodger both said they'd have to approve before I went on a date." Duo turned down a street that looked more upscale. Heero quirked an eyebrow and Duo explained, "My siblings. Amaria thinks it's unfair that I get to approve of her dates first, so she insisted that she'd have to do the same with me." Duo laughed. "And Rodger just wants to warn the girl so she knows what she's getting herself into." Heero began to chuckle at this. They walked on in comfortable silence, each simply glad to have the other back. There would be plenty of time for talk later.

Soon they arrived at a large house that stood out from the others.

"Here we are," Duo stated as he opened the doors. "Hell sweet hell." Heero thought Duo was making a big deal out of it as he walked inside. It was very nice, with a large entrance hall that was probably used for parties and a giant staircase going off in two directions at the back of the room. The carpet was a rich satin red, the walls a cool marble. The room was beautifully furnished in dark woods and gold and silver accessories.

Duo led him up the long staircase and down a hallway that was decorated quite the same way, except for the paintings that hung on the walls. They were of old wars on horses and people who must have been in the family ages ago. Duo paused at one door and opened it with a knock. "Amaria, Melissa, I'm back," Duo called. "And I've got a friend." Heero followed him into the room to find a little girl with brown hair and blue eyes, about six, a pretty woman with wavy blood hair who had her clothes strewn out all over the bed she and the girl were sitting on, and a boy that looked thirteen. The black haired boy looked slightly agitated about being there. The girl got up and immediately flung herself into Duo's arms.

"Duo!" she exclaimed. "Did you have a nice run?!" Duo hugged her and spun her around the room.

"Yes, I did indeed," Duo answered her. "I even brought back a guest!" Duo put the girl in her purple dress down and addressed the gaping boy, "Well Rodger, that's sure the proper way to welcome our guest."

Rodger shut his mouth and managed to stammer out, "You're H-Heero Yuy. Right?" Heero nodded at the boy, who was wearing a cream blue suit without the jacket, which was on a chair not to far away, and a white shirt. The boy stood up and held out his hand. "I'm Rodger Sullivan; it's an honor to meet you."

"My pleasure," Heero replied, shaking his hand. "So you're the boy that Duo said wanted to warn me about what I was getting into." Rodger stood in a sort of shock.

The woman on the bed gasped. "No way, so this is… Duo you dog!" she proclaimed with a giant smile. "However did you get yourself a catch like that?!"

Duo laughed and replied, "Please Melissa, not so loud! You'll wake the dead!" Duo gestured to the woman and commented, "This is Melissa, our cook. I'm supposed to help her find an outfit for her date tonight." Duo turned to look at the mess. "But it seems you've started without me."

"I'm sorry Duo," Melissa said. "But when you go out for a run no one knows how long you'll be gone and I just got too impatient! I have to look my best for a guy like him!"

"Who you won't even tell the name of," Rodger interjected.

Melissa held a finger to her red lips and winked one of her green eyes as she told them all, "It's a secret. But you'll know him when he arrives."

"Know him or not I'm still gonna question him," Duo told her as he went to stand by Heero. "Which is why I figured I'd bring my date over beforehand so we could get all of that out of the way."

"Wait a second," Rodger interrupted. His blue eyes were confused as he asked, "Just how do you know Mr. Yuy, Duo?" They all starred at Duo with wondering eyes.

"I'm a gundam pilot," Duo answered.

"They didn't know?" Heero asked, looking at Duo.

"Nah, figured I'd let Dad stew with wondering what in hell I was before they found me." Duo laughed as he crossed his arms. "Serves the old man right."

"You could have told us," Amaria said as she pulled on Duo's pant leg. Duo picked her up with a smile.

"Ah, but you can't lie to Dad and so would have told him, because I know he's asked you if I'd told you about what my job was before," Duo told her with a knowing smile as he gently tapped a finger on her nose.

Amaria starred down as she bit her nail. "This is true."

"Stop that," Duo told her as he gently took her fingers out of her mouth. "It's a bad nervous habit and I don't want you to develop it."

Heero raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

"Hey," Duo defended, "I couldn't help but to develop that nervous habit, I picked it up from Solo who twisted his hair a lot. Hers she can stop if she stops now." Duo put her back down before he turned to glare defiantly at Heero with his hands on hips.

Rodger spoke up from his thoughtful trance as he asked, "So, Mr. Yuy is your _boyfriend_, Duo?"

Duo smirked at him as he got in Rodger's face. "Now what ever makes you think that I'd reveal a secret like that?"

Rodger was begging to get red from anger and shot back, "Stop teasing me damnit, I just wanted to know. Besides, I want to know that you're actually going steady with someone rather than being a slut."

"Don't worry," Heero commented. He walked over and grabbed Duo around the waist from behind the braided boy. "I won't allow that as long as he's with me." Duo looked over his shoulder and gave a confused smile to the taller boy.

"That's oddly romantic, Mr. Peacecraft," Duo couldn't help but tease him at the end. Heero glared at him in response.

Melissa gave the couple an evil smile. "Does Miss Relena know about this?" Duo blinked, and looked at Heero for an answer.

Heero shrugged as he answered, "I don't think so." Melissa began to rub her hands together as a mischievous look crossed her face.

"Oh how she'll scream when she finds it broadcasted all over the news," she cheerily commented. Everyone starred at her in shock. "What," she asked, suddenly looking innocent again. "The press will be here because of my date, and if they catch site of you two they're going to go after you. If Duo hadn't been missing for so long they probably wouldn't have bothered even if it was still your first date, which I highly doubt."

"Makes sense," Duo said.

"With all of that aside," Melissa stated, changing topics, "could you help me out, Duo, as the others interrogate Heero in the next room?" Duo looked at Heero, who nodded. Duo nodded as well, and they reluctantly parted ways.

"Don't go too far," Duo called down the hall to them, "I'll bring out Melissa for approval when we've found something really good!"

"Don't worry," Rodger called back, "we're not going to shove him out until you're done!" Rodger sighed and continued walking until they came to the edge of the stairs. "Is here okay?" Heero nodded. They sat on the steps, Amaria on Rodger's lap. "As you might have guessed, this is our little sister Amaria." Amaria smiled up at Heero in wonder and awe as he shook her little hand.

"Are you really the pilot of Wing Zero?" she asked him. Heero nodded and smiled slightly as her eyes widened. "Is Duo really a pilot as well?"

"Yes," Heero answered. "Duo is the pilot of Deathscythe, Gundam 02." Her eyes got even wider, a feat Heero had previously thought impossible.

"You've got a piano lesson now," Rodger told Amaria. "Why don't you go now so Dad doesn't run into our guest before tonight, okay?"

"Okay," Amaria stood up and gave Rodger a kiss on the cheek. "Bye Mr. Heero, I'll see you tonight!" she called as she ran down the hall.

"Why did Relena try to put him in a mental asylum," Rodger asked. Heero had to think about that one. Who knew what went on in her head?

"She's convinced that we're soul mates," he tried to explain. "And that Duo was just getting in the way of that, I think."

"In other words she's delusional when it comes to you," Rodger commented. Heero raised an eyebrow. "Even I can tell that you're crazy for Duo, which is the only reason I haven't had Gerard run you off the colony by now." He sighed and looked at his lap. "For as silly and irritating as he is, I can't help but love my older brother. My 'warning a girl' excuse is really just so I can see if they're really in love with him, and if not I can run her off."

"Does your father not like Duo," Heero inquired. Rodger jerked his head up and starred at him in surprise. "That's the impression I've gotten," Heero explained.

"Yeah, Dad isn't too happy," Rodger answered. "He thinks Duo is brash, talks excessively, has extremely improper behavior, thinks his last job was probably as a hooker, and is entirely unsuitable to inherit the family business, and so he's decided to give it to me instead, as originally planed."

"Unless, of course," Duo's voice commented from behind the pair, "I can somehow change my manner of being into a respectable, proper grown man."

"How long—" Rodger started to ask before he was crushed in Duo's hug.

"Long enough, you're soooo sweet!" Duo exclaimed as he squeezed the younger boy. Rodger fought against his grip, trying to break free.

"I take it you found something for Melissa," Heero stated.

"Oh yeah." Duo stopped his assault on Rodger and grabbed both of their arms. He started to drag them down the hall as he called out, "Come on out and show 'em your stuff Melissa!" Melissa came out of the room as the three of them stopped. She smiled as Rodger gawked at her and Heero smiled approval. She stood there in a dark satin skirt that came down to above her knees in the front and billowed out behind her in the back. The red skirt and red lace collar offset her emerald eyes while her low-cut black top with lace fringe did much the same thing for her porcelain skin. Her blond hair was put up in a ponytail at the top of her head.

She blushed a bit and asked, "W-well? Is it good?"

"I _told_ you it would be," Duo exclaimed. "Just look at these two gawking at you!"

"And is that a good thing when he's _your_ boyfriend?" Melissa teased as she walked over to them.

"Weeeeelllll," Duo dragged the word as he slowly starred at Heero. "If I didn't have him wrapped around my finger I might be a _bit_ concerned," Duo teased back. Heero rolled his eyes.

"So I really look good," Melissa asked them.

"You can really tell Duo's gay, because you look like a princess," Rodger answered. Melissa smiled sweetly at him as Heero nodded in agreement.

"Thanks guys, I'll go get back into my normal clothes, don't want to spoil the surprise for Mr. Sullivan over there," Melissa told them before she headed into her room.

"Oh joy," Duo mouthed. A smile planted firmly on his face he ran into Melissa's room while dragging Heero by the arm with him.

"Duo get back here!" bellowed a voice from behind them.

"Comin through," Duo warned as he and Heero raced through the room and jumped out the window. She starred in astonishment with Mr. Sullivan as they hit the ground and started running.

"Why are we running," Heero asked.

"I just don't want to deal with him until I absolutely have to," Duo answered. Heero nodded in understanding and they kept running. They came to a stop under a tree about three of the giant houses away. "Well, I guess I'll see you tonight," Duo said as he smiled and started to walk off. Heero reached out and grabbed Duo's hand. With a yank he flung Duo around back into his arms and kissed him. Duo stood there in shock until Heero pulled away, at which point he blushed and went in for another kiss, where this time he'd do it properly. They stood there kissing under the tree until they both broke away from a need for air. Duo waved goodbye and Heero let him go this time. He watched his braided love run back to his house until he was gone from sight before heading back to his own house to prepare things.

When Duo got back to his house he found his dad waiting there for him in the front hall with his arms crossed. "Hiya Pops," Duo greeted, smile firmly in place.

"Who was your guest," Mr. Sullivan demanded. "And what was with your need to run?"

"I didn't want to ruin the surprise of my date tonight," Duo calmly replied while he walked on past him. He knew the aspect of his "gay" son having a date would make him happy. And he knew that his dad hadn't really had that great of a look at Heero so… hopefully he didn't know that his date was a guy yet.

Predictably, his dad responded with, "A date? Is she proper?"

"Dad," Duo shot back, "my date is in the private circle of Miss Relena Peacecraft's personal guard." Not a lie, Heero was the first up on Relena's guard. He was the top person to go to for her safety. "Of _course_ they're proper. I wouldn't dare bring shame to the family by dating someone not worth a position in the family in your eyes." Also not a lie, because the only one he wanted was Heero, who was more than proper and respectable in his father's eyes. Duo was halfway up the stairs before his dad could inquire any further. He ran to the upstairs main balcony—more like a courtyard—where Amaria was practicing her piano. He went and sat down next to her, and began to play with her until it was time for him to get ready.

A/N: Oooh, clifhanger! Not for long, I'll be nice and update the date right now. See you then! READ ON!! Lol sorry, 1 am and chocolate don't mix well.


	2. Angels Fall Sometimes

A/N: Ch 2, date time! I apologize in advance, I am a full-blown sappy romantic.

Oh yeah, all of the characters that aren't from the series are OC's, not Mary Sue's. I don't want to date any guy in the series, because all I want to do is have them date each other! Okay so, ON WITH THE STORY!!

Ch. 2

It was almost 6:30 and the whole family and Melissa were sitting on some chairs by the door, waiting for the dates to show up. Duo was leaning against the wall and had changed into some black slacks and a long-sleeved, button up red dress shirt. His gold cross hung around his neck, catching the light and causing Mr. Sullivan to blink from its glare.

"Do you _have_ to wear that piece of jewelry?" Mr. Sullivan demanded. "I thought that I told you that excessive accessorizing is indecent on a man."

"It's _one_ cross Dad," Duo shot back, angry at having this argument once again. "And it's too much a part of who I am for me to not wear it. Besides, I'm on a date, it's not like I'm going before Relena to propose some idea."

"That's _Miss_ Relena, Duo," Mr. Sullivan corrected. "Please at least be proper when you talk about someone of higher rank than you."

Duo scoffed and replied, "Whatever." How like his dad to spoil his mood before the date he'd been waiting for so long to go on. They'd had this argument so many times that he'd lost count. Just then the door bell rang and their butler Gerard—he was actually more like a bodyguard; he was a giant and well-versed in martial arts—answered the door. The door opened to reveal Heero standing there in black slacks, and a white button up shirt under a black dress jacket.

"Melissa," Mr. Sullivan called to Melissa while being surprised and pleased at the prospect of Heero being there, who was standing a little ways off. "Your dates here."

Duo walked over to Heero as he informed his dad, "Sorry Dad, but he's _my_ date." Mr. Sullivan stood there open mouthed as Duo gave Heero a kiss on the cheek in greeting. "Melissa I see another car outside so why don't you just come out with us now," Duo called. Melissa did as she was asked as Duo assured his dad, "Don't worry I'll make sure he's suitable. And if you're confused about all of this just watch the news, it'll probably be on sometime tonight or tomorrow with an explanation. Just remember Rodger, no pink at the party and Amaria, make sure to be good. I'll be back sometime tomorrow. Goodnight guys!" Duo waved a goodbye and was out the door before Mr. Sullivan could get a word in edgewise.

"You sure handled that like a bulldozer," Melissa commented as they walked over to the black Mercedes.

"Well he was already putting me in a bit of a foul mood and I didn't want him to make it worse right before my date so I decided it would be better if I rushed out and explained everything tomorrow," Duo explained. Melissa nodded her understanding.

"How did you know you wouldn't be back till tomorrow," Heero asked.

"Just a hunch," Duo answered with a knowing wink. They reached the car and he leaned in the open passenger side window. "Well whataya know," Duo said as he saw who the person was. "Zechs!"

"Hello Duo," Zechs greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"He's the son of my boss," Melissa said as she shoved Duo aside and got into the car.

"Really?" Zechs asked before they shared a kiss greeting.

"Apparently," Duo answered. "They run extensive tests before you are allowed into the mental asylum, and then Relena decided to ship me over here." Zechs grimaced in understanding. "So how do you know my cook?"

"We met at one of Relena's parties, which she was catering as a gift from Mr. Sullivan," Zechs explained. Duo nodded in understanding.

"Well have a good time," Duo called as he backed off. Zechs wished them one as well, and drove off. Heero tossed a helmet at Duo, and led him over to his motorcycle. Duo smiled a knowing smile as Heero got on. "You sly dog," Duo commented as he got on behind Heero and wrapped his arms tight around his waist. Heero revved it up, and then drove off into town.

They soon came to restaurant called Black Diamond. Duo starred up at it in awe as they got off the bike. "Wow, Heero," he commented. "You sure know where to take a guy." It was the most respectable and famous restaurant in the whole colony. Also pretty hard to get into on only a few hours notice.

"Only the best," Heero told Duo as he held out his arm. Duo blushed as he took Heero's arm and they went into the restaurant. Soon the dinner they had ordered was out, and they could hear a festival going on in the park across the street. As well as cameras from reporters who were currently staking out the place.

"Didn't take them long," Duo dryly commented. Heero glanced at the reporters and sighed. "So how've the rest of the gang been doing?" Duo asked, changing the subject. "With all the studying I've had to do for Dad I haven't had a chance to catch up on the news about you guys."

"Quatre and Trowa are dating now," Heero started.

"Finally!" Duo exclaimed. "God, I was about to bash their heads together and tell them both outright how they felt for each other if it went on any longer!"

"Wu Fei is dating Sally," Heero continued. He laughed at Duo's open mouth.

"No way!" Duo proclaimed in disbelief. "I always thought he was gay. Wasn't he going with Treize before he died?"

"Yes, but he fell in love with Sally while she was helping him through his grief," Heero explained.

"Wow, so they're all happy and content, huh?" Duo smiled at Heero. Heero smiled back at him.

"As we will be," Heero told him. Duo reached out and took Heero's hand, completely not caring about the guys outside recording all of it on video. Heero really had become braver, Duo realized, as Heero leaned across the table and kissed him. Duo returned it, suddenly oblivious to the world around them. As they pulled apart they noticed their waiter standing by the table. They starred up at him, waiting to get kicked out.

"It is a small gift in return for what you did for the colonies," the waiter told them, "but we have closed the curtains and are running the paparazzi off the property. Shall we confiscate their cameras as well?"

"No," Heero answered as he shook his head. "We're tired of hiding it. And it's easier for Relena to get the message if she's got video that she can't deny. We thank you, though. It was very kind of you." The waiter smiled and excused himself as another table called out for him.

"Nice to be appreciated," Duo commented. Heero nodded his agreement. "So how bad has Relena gotten?" Heero scowled.

"She's convinced that I've already proposed to her," Heero snarled. "She won't listen to anything and is doing everything short of stalking me." Duo winced.

"Well I'm gonna make her back off," Duo growled. "Cuz you're _my _man and I don't like her thinking otherwise." Heero laughed at that. He would love to see how Duo would run Relena off. They caught up on everything else as they finished their dinner.

When it came time to pay their check, the manager came out and told them it was on the house as a gift for what they had done. They thanked him and Duo asked if they could remain parked there while they wandered around the festival. He told them it was fine, and Heero found himself getting dragged across the street to where the festival goers were dancing.

"Come on and dance with me, Heero," Duo demanded. Heero gave a defeated sigh and took Duo's hands. Duo lead him through the odd folk dance moves until Heero had learned enough to lead. They danced as they felt the cameras from earlier spying on them, each just wanting to hold the other closer. Someone bumped into Duo, causing them to retreat to the safety of a tree. Duo started laughing and Heero joined in, unable to help himself.

"Come on," Heero managed to say while laughing. "Let's go." Duo nodded and tried to stop his giggles as they wove their way back to Heero's bike. Once there, they found a basket with some bread and a bottle of wine, along with a big plastic butterfly ring like you would get off a cup-cake.

"Stephanie must have sent this," Duo commented. "I'd know these fake rings anywhere." At Heero's raised eyebrow Duo explained, "She's one of my closer friends at school. She's the daughter of the manager here, and really cool." They got it settled to where it wouldn't fall off and then rode back to Heero's house.

Heero's house was of a good size, and very pretty. Duo felt his jaw drop as he entered the living room. The sofa was a lush green, which offset the warm brown walls. His coffee table was glass topped, and the couch faced the rather large entertainment center. There was a hallway leading somewhere off to one side, and the kitchen was up a small platform and to the right with a clear view of the living room.

"It's so pretty Heero," Duo told him. Heero went into the kitchen and Duo stopped at the edge of it to admire it. All stainless steal appliances, with a beautiful black marble counter top. "Didn't know you designed, or cooked for that matter."

"I bought it this way," Heero replied. "The owners were selling it with everything in it, and I figured it'd be less of a bother." He came back to Duo and put his arms around his waist. "There's a study, a large master bath, a guest room, and a giant master bedroom with a walk in closet."

"Aren't you getting out the wine," Duo inquired.

"No," Heero answered. "I want to be completely sober right now." Duo smiled as Heero leaned in for a kiss. He kissed him back just as passionately. When they broke for air Heero went over to the sound system and turned it on. "Can you wait for one more dance," Heero asked as he extended his hand towards Duo. Duo took it with a smile as the words to the country sounding song came on. A soothing base began to sing:

_My chances weren't good_

_She was way out of my reach_

_How could she ever _

_Fall for some ol'boy like me?_

Duo smiled at Heero as they waltzed across the living room. "How could I not fall for you?" Duo asked.

Heero just chuckled and replied, "I still don't see why, and don't ask me to explain, because I can't."

_But here she lies asleep tonight_

_In these arms of mine_

"Is _that_ where you're taking this?" Duo teased.

"That's not the reason I chose the song," Heero told Duo as he lead him into a spin.

_And that goes to show_

_Angels fall sometimes_

_She's been here long enough to see_

_That I'm no saint by now_

_Every mornin' I wake up surprised to _

_Find her still around_

"No need to be," Duo told him. "My wish is to be here with you. This is a sweet song, where'd you find it?"

"Heard it on the radio and bought the CD," Heero answered.

"It's the most romantic thing I've heard," Duo said as he leaned his head on Heero's chest and closed his eyes.

_The love that she gives to me_

_Could be no truer sign_

_Every now and then _

_Angels fall sometimes_

_She brings pieces of heaven_

_Everyday into my life_

_She's been my inspiration_

_With her by my side_

_I'm not afraid to dream high_

As a slow instrumental started to play, Heero weaved the two of them down the hall and into the bedroom. It was indeed giant, and very well decorated in a warm dark purple. That was the color of the bedding, with lavender embroidery. The walls were a mix between the two colors, and the headboard was a rich dark wood.

"Wow," Duo commented. "You must have bought it from a girl; I can't believe you'd live in a purple room."

"It reminded me of your eyes," Heero informed him. Duo looked up at Heero in surprise. Heero smiled lovingly down at him, and Duo couldn't help but be convinced that every word he had said was true as he smiled back.

_The love that she gives to me _

_Could be no truer sign_

_Every now and then _

_Angels fall sometimes_

Duo allowed himself to be led to the bed. Smirking, he yanked Heero down on top of him as he fell upon the bed.

_Yeah, I thank the Lord_

_Angels fall sometimes_

Heero laughed and began to kiss him, letting everything go and relishing in the passion he felt being equally returned from the beauty underneath him.

A/N: Okay, there's the date. The song is "Angels Fall Sometimes" by Josh Turner and it is AMAZING!! GO FORTH AND LISTEN TO IT!! Sorry, it's too early to not be hyper. Hope you guys haven't gotten any cavities from my sappy romantic scene! I'll have another chap. up later, maybe later tonight (or morning, technically) if I feel like it. TTFN!


	3. Waking to a Dream

A/N: Wow, I'm amazed by the quick responce! Thanks to the two guys who added this to their alerts and reviewed! You really made me happy and I thought, well, with that I can't really wait that long to update another chap! I also got past that block and have been typing on it for about an hour and plan to continue for a few more hours later on so I should have even more tomorrow. Thanks again!

Ch. 3

Heero awoke as he heard the doorbell go off. He gave an agitated sigh as he realized that the person wasn't going to go away. Duo woke from where he was draped across Heero's chest, and focused two sleepy eyes on him.

"I don't think they're leaving," Heero told his love. Duo nodded his understanding and allowed Heero to get out of the bed. Heero yanked on a pair of boxers and slowly walked to the door. He opened it and told the person there, "Stop ringing the bell, you'll wake Duo up again." He finally looked at the guy and noticed that it was Sally.

"So I see you've found your surprise," she commented. Heero nodded as he let her in. "I just dropped by to make sure you were going to Mr. Sullivan's party tonight, and to see if Relena's found you yet."

"Just say it," Heero told her, "you came over because my date with Duo was all over the news last night." He sighed as she gave him a guilty smile. "You'll have to wait if you want to talk to him, he's still sleeping." Heero went into the kitchen and started some coffee. Sally sat on the couch, looking about the room in approval.

"You know Relena's going to be mad about this," Sally told him.

"Relena can go screw herself," Heero said, borrowing Duo's phrase. Sally looked at him in surprise. Heero just shrugged as he went and leaned against a wall by the couch.

"Heero?" Duo's sleepy voice asked. They both looked and saw Duo standing at the edge of the hallway in a pair of oversized pajama pants rubbing the sleep out of his eye. "Who was it?"

"Long time no see Duo," Sally greeted. Duo blinked at her a few seconds, before recognition sparked in his eyes.

"Hi Sally, heard you managed to rope in Wu Fei," Duo greeted back groggily. Sally laughed as Heero went over to Duo.

"Shouldn't you still be in bed, you're falling asleep where you stand," Heero said as he put an arm around Duo's shoulder.

"Well if I should be then so should you," Duo replied. "Besides, you can't cook worth shit and we both know very well that once you wake up it's not easy to make you go back to sleep. I'll go fix something with that bread, it's the best in town," Duo added as he headed for the kitchen. Sally laughed at his words as Heero protested that he _had_ learned to cook and just because he was up didn't mean Duo had to be. He sighed and glared at Sally.

"You just _had_ to come this early," Heero told her.

"I didn't expect you two to go so far after first meeting for the first time in almost two years," Sally replied as she guessed what had happened. "I had thought you'd have been up by now, having a bit of a headache from wine and kissing. But just that."

"Couldn't wait," Duo said as he brought out a tray of sliced bread.

"You sure cook fast," Sally commented.

"Pre-sliced," Duo replied. "And we've never done more than kiss, so after finally seeing each other after such a long time we couldn't wait. Besides, I wanted to make sure Relena knows he's _my_ man soon as possible." Heero came from the kitchen with three mugs of coffee. Duo smiled from besides Sally as if he hadn't said a thing.

"Don't think I didn't hear that," Heero told him as he passed out the mugs. He sat his own on the coffee table and sat down next to Duo. "But I don't think I'd be able to hide it even if we hadn't gone that far yet," he stated. Heero put his arms around Duo's waist and leaned his head on Duo's shoulder. Heero instantly felt his eyes start to droop.

Duo looked at him and commented, "Baby, you need to go back to bed."

"Well, I'll be there at Mr. Sullivan's party so," Sally stood up and grabbed some bread. "I think I'll just leave now and let you two sleep. Thanks for breakfast though." Duo waved goodbye as Heero grunted his farewell. Sally left and Duo sighed.

"She should've just waited to talk to us until the party," he commented. "Come on Heero, let's go back to bed." Heero reluctantly got up and the two of them went back to the bedroom to get some more sleep.

Duo found himself being drawn from sleep by Heero's gentle voice.

"It's nearly eleven, love," Heero told him. "You should get up." Duo opened a sleepy eye and peered up at him.

"Okay, okay," Duo sighed at Heero's soft glare. "I'm up." Duo sat up yawning and stretched. "Haven't slept this late since after the war," he commented. Heero got out of bed and walked over to his closet. He came back out shortly with two sets of jeans and shirts.

"Shower's over here," Heero stated as he headed to another door in the room. Duo laughed as he realized that Heero meant for them to shower together. Heero stood patiently as Duo got himself out of bed and joined him.

Duo felt refreshed after the shower, and in need of his belt. Heero was bigger in the hips than he was. Thankfully his dad always had him wear one with his dress pants, so he just snitched it off of those. As Heero put on a new pot of coffee, grumbling about the wasted pot because of the 'damn woman', Duo cooked some ham. When Heero asked why, he told him it was because there wasn't anything else in the house. Heero blinked once… twice… three times, and then put a note to go shopping on the fridge. They turned on the news as they ate side by side on the couch. The report on the two of them last night happened to be on the first channel they looked at.

"As you can see behind me," the newscaster said, apparently it was footage from last night. "The gundam pilot Heero Yuy is meeting in this restaurant with the previously missing gundam pilot Duo Maxwell. Why they are meeting here after so long an absence, we aren't sure. Oh, wait…" The footage switched to show them kissing. "Is this possible?! Miss Relena's sweetheart is _kissing_ Duo!" The curtains of the restaurant closed as waiters came out and began shooing the reporters off the site. The shot abruptly switched to the newscaster in a studio talking with another host.

"And do you guys have any idea about any of this," the new one asked. "The footage is shocking, but do we know what that was?"

"No," the first answered. "For all we can figure out, Heero Yuy appeared to be on a _date_ with Duo Maxwell."

"Damn straight," Duo commented. Then he gave a heavy sigh. "We're gonna have to clear all this up tonight, you realize." Heero gave his typical grunt response. Duo could tell he wasn't happy about having to explain his personal life to the world. "I'll do most of the talking hun," Duo told him. "You just show up and don't deny the fact we're dating." Duo leaned over and kissed Heero on the cheek. Heero smiled his thanks, and kissed him in return. They listened as the two newscasters planned to 'get the truth out of them' at Mr. Sullivan's welcome party that night.

Once they finished their lunch they cleaned up, Duo grabbed his old clothes, and Heero took him home.

When Duo got home he happily found that his dad was nowhere to be seen. "Hiya Rodger," Duo called out as he gave his clothes to a maid so she could take them to the laundry. Rodger was in jeans and a t-shirt hanging up a welcome banner. He looked down over his shoulder at Duo.

"Hi," Rodger called back. "I'll properly greet you later; can you help me with this?"

"Sure." Duo scampered up the ladder and leaned around Rodger to hook up the banner. Duo gave a triumphant smile as it clicked into place. "There you go," Duo said as he climbed back down. Rodger climbed down as well, and then starred at Duo in confusion.

"Are those Heero's clothes?" Rodger asked.

"Yep," Duo answered. He shrugged and added, "Bit big around the waist but it's better than re-wearing yesterday's outfit." Rodger nodded in understanding.

"Dad saw the news and is currently on the phone," he informed Duo. "He'll be back in a minute."

"Joy," Duo commented with a wince. "Well, at least my 'questionable past career' will be cleared up."

"There is that."

"Duo!" their dad bellowed. Duo winced as he and Rodger turned to face him. "I demand an explanation!"

"Didn't you watch the news?" Duo asked as he laced his fingers behind his head in a non-caring attitude. "That should have cleared the whole matter up." Mr. Sullivan gave him a glare that told Duo he wanted an explanation from him. Duo sighed and explained, "I am the pilot of the Gundam Deathscythe. Heero Yuy is my boyfriend, we went on a date. The press found us because they were originally here to tail Zechs. Relena sent me here after trying to get me into a mental institute, but you know that much. I never told you because I don't like you and wanted to get you mad. It was mean but," Duo shrugged, "I don't really care. I figured you'd find out on your own eventually. And you did." Duo changed subjects with a smile, "I need to make sure everything here is suitable for my friends when they come over tonight, so this discussion is over." Duo walked off with Rodger close behind him.

Duo made sure everything was alright, and then set up a small study with two comfy chairs and a couch so he and his friends could catch up in there tonight, away from prying ears. He stocked the small wine cabinet with the guy's favorites, and made sure there were clean glasses. When he was satisfied he helped with other things until it was finally time to get ready for the party.

A/N: Chap. 3 up! And I've only partly written ch. 4 so the updates might be a bit slower. But it's summer and I spend most of my time typing so then again maybe not. And yes, Duo was mean to his dad but for some reason I made his dad a butt so... it's justified. I may finish the next chap. tonight and if I do I'll post it, so keep reading!

Oh! And now I have a plot all figured out, so the plot bunnies are now running in a straight line instead of all over the place and it'll be easier to write it because I know where it's going. So don't worry! TTFN!


	4. Sweet Reunion

A/N: Chapter 4 is here! Read and enjoy!

Ch. 4

Quatre couldn't help but feel sad when they entered Mr. Sullivan's mansion. Duo had disappeared shortly after a party like this one, after all. Trowa put a comforting arm around his shoulder, and Quatre smiled a thanks at his boyfriend. It was still hard on him, on all of them, really. Especially Heero, which reminded Quatre of something. Heero had been acting very weird all afternoon. He was, happy and… glowing, for lack of a better term. They had tried to find out why, but Heero had only told them that they'd see later on.

"Welcome, Mr. Winner, Mr. Barton, Mr. Chang," greeted Mr. Sullivan's son Rodger. They had looked him up among others online that afternoon, so they would know all of the people there. "Welcome back, Heero." Quatre turned to stare in surprise as Heero nodded a greeting back. Looking back at Rodger, he caught the boy looking behind them and then giving a heavy sigh. What was going—

"Hey guys!" Duo's cheerful voice rang as arms crushed Quatre, Trowa, and Wu Fei in a hug. "It's been too long! I'm so happy to see you guys!" Heero laughed at them as they all tried to process what had happened.

"Duo!" Quatre exclaimed, "What—"

"I'll explain to you guys at the same time as I tell the press," Duo answered. "And they're conveniently here," he added as a newscaster came over with a camera guy. Duo released his friends and stood by Heero. "Hi guys!"

"Duo," the news lady asked, "where have you been for the past year and a half?"

"Here," Duo answered smoothly with his usual charming smile. "Relena was worried about my state of mind and tried to get me psychiatric help, but they had to run DNA tests to do that. They found out that I'm actually the son of Mr. Jhonathan Sullivan and someone they couldn't identify. So Relena sent me here instead, thinking the stability of a family would help me out. And it has, but I've been so swamped with work that I haven't been able to keep in touch with anyone. Don't worry though; I'm as stable mentally as Gundanium." Duo gave them another charming smile to dispel any disbelief. Every pilot felt a bit of anger well up in them, they all knew the _real_ reason Relena had done it. Yet once again, Duo had simply told the truth in an artful way, because that would have been Relena's excuse.

"And what do you have to say about last night?" She looked expectantly at them as the other pilots starred questioningly.

"Well," Duo started. He paused to exchange a glance with Heero, and then continued as Heero grabbed his hand, "Hee-chan and I have been gradually falling in love over the entire war. It just gets worse every day," Duo added as he hugged Heero's arm. "We found each other yesterday and ended up going on an actual date. Actually, he really surprised me with it. It's the most romantic I've ever seen him be." Duo laughed as Heero turned a faint shade of pink at the complement.

"And what exactly did you two do last night," the lady inquired, asking the polite version of what was on everyone's mind.

"That's an incredibly rude question," Rodger interrupted. "I told you that if you got too rude I'd have Gerard throw you out. Now back off and let them catch up." Rodger shooed the protesting newscasters away.

"First off, congrats to all of the new couple, because it's about damn time!" Duo told Quatre and Trowa with a wink.

"Why couldn't you contact us," Wu Fei inquired.

"Couldn't get away from Dad," Duo answered. "Plus Relena had people to make sure I couldn't get off the colony, and had set up a security system to keep me from contacting you guys, and also made sure you guys were never here." Duo gave a long sigh, "I just couldn't get in touch at all." Duo crossed his arms. "And believe me, if there had been a way, I would've found it."

"And if I could have found him earlier," Sally added as she came up to them, "I would have. Relena truly did as well as any of you in making sure no one could find him."

"Which reminds me," Duo said as he smirked at Wu Fei. Wu Fei couldn't move away before Duo had slung his arms around his shoulders. "I heard you've abandoned our side of the line and fallen for Sally," Duo nearly whined. "Why Fei-baby? Why would you leave us like that?"

"Because I'm in love," Wu Fei replied as he tried to pry Duo off him. After a few minutes of no success he snapped, "Yuy, get your boyfriend off me before I chop off his braid."

"Duo," Heero called as he rolled his eyes. "People will think we've got a threesome on our hands if you keep this up." Duo stopped as he starred at Heero in shock.

"A full sentence in public?!" Duo exclaimed. "With words like threesome? What happened?!"

Heero shrugged. "I opened up more," he calmly answered. "I had wondered if you had left because I wasn't more open in public, and have worked at it. I feel more comfortable with it now." Wu Fei was freed as Duo pounced on Heero and hugged his neck tightly.

"Don't ever think that!" Duo cried as they all looked on in shock. "Never, never, never can you or could you do anything to make me want to leave you! If I had a problem with you being reserved then I wouldn't have fallen for you!" Heero blinked slowly, and then a relieved smile crept onto his face. He hadn't realized that he had still been worried that that was still a factor even with Relena's meddling. How could he have been so blind? Heero hugged Duo just as tightly as the other party goers looked on, having heard Duo's outburst.

"Thank you," Heero whispered into Duo's ear. "Thank you. And I'm sorry; I shouldn't have been so stupid."

They were brought back to the world around them as they heard someone clearing their throat.

"Go fuck yourself Dad," Duo retorted at the cleared throat. "I'm going to reassure my boyfriend when and where I damn well please and as loud as I damn well please." Duo pulled back from Heero—while not letting go of his neck or far enough back to have Heero's arms leave his waist—and glared at Mr. Sullivan. "And if you've got a problem with that, then leave the fucking room. Or better yet, disown me! Kick me out if I'm such a bad and improper son! I'll go bunk somewhere else outside of your straight-laced leash!"

Mr. Sullivan grew a tinted red with rage, yet he held it in check with years of practice. "I will not leave my son on the street," Mr. Sullivan evenly stated. "And I do not find reassuring your… boyfriend, improper. Yet you could be a bit quieter about it so you don't have the press taping it and don't disturb the conversations of our guests." With that said he turned around and walked off to a corner to join other business men standing there. The guests gradually went back to what they were doing, not wanting to anger Mr. Sullivan anymore than he already was.

"Don't worry Duo," Rodger told him as he walked over. "I threw the press out as soon as they asked that rude question. I figured something else would happen, and we really don't need more of your bad relationship with Dad relayed over the news."

"Thanks kid," Duo replied as he gave his brother a smile.

"What's going on between you and your dad," Quatre inquired.

"Oh, he hates me," Duo answered as he leaned his head on Heero's shoulder once again. He didn't want to let go lest Heero get the wrong idea again.

"He doesn't hate you Duo," Rodger interrupted with a roll of his eyes. "He just isn't used to your way of living." Duo raised his head to look at him with a truly confused look. Rodger sighed. "You live your life how you want, rebelling against any and all rules, and being yourself to the full, no matter who you cross in the process. Dad has been raised with restrictions, only ever lived his life the 'proper' way. He grew up being taught that living life like you do is wrong, and he can't bring himself to learn differently because it scares him to think that all he has known could be false."

"Really?"

"Truly," Rodger answered. "He told me so himself in one of his rare ranting moods after having too much to drink because he grabbed the wrong wine bottle by mistake." Duo laughed at that. "Some seats have been set up on the main balcony; I'll show you the way." Rodger walked off as Duo—still chuckling—followed with his arm around Heero's shoulders.

The main balcony was huge, and provided a magnificent view of the rose garden courtyard beneath them. "I'll send someone to get you when dinner is ready," Rodger told them. Duo thanked him, and then Rodger went back to the party. They all took seats in the plush chairs near the rail. Quatre and Trowa took the loveseat, Wu Fei and Sally pushed their chairs next to each other, and Duo sat on the arm of Heero's chair. That is, he did until Heero yanked him down into his lap.

"So how have you been doing Duo," Quatre asked.

"Good," Duo answered. "I'm getting perfect grades—much to the surprise of everybody in school—I'd already discouraged all the gold diggers in the first month of freshmen year. I've got a few bullies on my tail but, no harm done. I made two good friends, and pretty much get along with most people at school. Home life," Duo shrugged, "not much to say. Studied, made friends with the staff, and got attached to my siblings, the usual. And you guys?"

"The usual," Quatre answered. "We get preventer missions from time to time from Une when no one else can do them. And we've had no trouble at school."

"Except for the idiots who follow us around and regard us like gods," Wu Fei sharply added with his arms crossed tightly. "You would think they were stronger than that."

"That's the reason I didn't tell anyone at school," Duo replied as he rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Kids these days are nuts." Wu Fei nodded in strong agreement.

"How's Hilde?" Duo asked as a change of topic.

"Her scrap yard is the third most successful one in the Earth Sphere," Sally informed him. "And I've given her your mail which I got from Rodger so you two can keep in contact."

"Thanks!" Duo smiled at her.

"Dinner is ready," Melissa called as she walked over, on the arm of Zechs. The others looked at the couple in surprise.

"What are you doing here Miss Melissa," Quatre asked with a kind smile.

"I'm Mr. Sullivan's cook," Melissa explained. "And like I said, dinner is served, so come on." Duo laughed at her pushiness as they got up and made their way to the dining hall.

Dinner was elaborate as was usual at parties for the gundam pilots, and they all talked politely to other people through the whole event. Duo then led them to the study he had set up, where they joked and talked like old times. Soon the party was over, and Duo walked them all to their cars.

"So you guys are going to West High Dragons for school?" Duo asked as they reached the cars.

"Yes, do you go there as well?" Quatre replied, hopeful.

"Yep," Duo answered with a beaming smile. "I'll see you guys tomorrow in homeroom then!" Sally raised an eyebrow at him. "Well I assume you at least put us in the same homeroom," Duo explained as he gave Sally a teasing glare. "If you didn't Heero's likely to come shoot you."

Sally rolled her eyes as she informed him, "Yes I did. Goodnight Maxwell, and thank you for the reminder of just how annoying you are."

"You know you love me," Duo retorted with a wink. She got into the car with another roll of her eyes. Wu Fei said goodbye and got into the car and they both left. Then Quatre and Trowa parted, leaving the two pilots alone.

"Goodnight my angel," Heero said as he hugged Duo tightly once more.

"Night," Duo replied as he hugged him back. "And don't you dare think anything like my leaving you because you're too quiet again. You're not my perfect solider, you're my prince, and I wouldn't be able to fly as you believe I can without you there helping me."

"Thank you, Duo," Heero said once again as he leaned his head on top of Duo's. "I'll see you tomorrow love." Heero and Duo shared once last kiss for the day, and then parted their separate ways.

A/N: And now I will make you wait for chap. 5, because I am going to bed. Dad has ragged on me at eleven and I know he'll make me go to bed at one so why delay the inneviatable? The next chap will be up in a few days though, so don't worry! Now for bed and plot refining as I drift off to sleep, TTFN!


	5. School's Welcome

A/N: Here's chap. 5! Things are probably going to start speeding up soon, or they might not. I just hope I don't focus on not going super fast so much that it takes too long. But don't worry, it'll still be a good sized story either way!

Some people have expressed concerns about Heero not being angry at Relena. Don't worry, he'll be plenty angry soon.

Ch. 5

Homeroom was its usual pain in the ass the next morning as Duo sat down next to Stephanie. Stephanie in her usual lavender shirt and dark grey jeans gave him a green-eyed wink.

"So how'd the date go," she inquired. "Did the wine I sent help things along?" Duo picked up the butterfly clip that had fallen out of her brown hair once again and gave it to her.

"No," he answered. As she began to pout and protest Duo sighed dreamily and told her, "Hee-chan told me he wanted to be completely sober." Stephanie felt her jaw drop to the floor. Her eyes demanded he spill the beans. "Then he turned on a romantic song and we danced in the living room before weaving our way to his purple bedroom."

"Purple?" Stephanie's eyebrows were raised in shock. "I never pegged him to be a purple kinda guy."

"He said it had reminded him of my eyes," Duo added. Stephanie squealed with delight.

"What a catch! He's so ro_mantic_ under that stoic face!"

"I know!"

"Now now class," their teacher Mrs. Gilpin called out. She stood behind the desk in her usual black dress with heels and tied up hair. "We have very special people joining our class today, and I want us to treat them as we would any other student." That sent a murmur of whispers through the students.

"What if they're fags like Duo?" Bren asked. The other students laughed as Duo and Stephanie rolled their eyes. The heavy set football star was very fond of picking on Duo. Typical blond hair, blue-eyed he was the heart-throb of the school; a true stereotypical jock to the core.

"You will not tease them about it," Mrs. Gilpin sharply replied. "The kids joining us are the gundam pilots and are to be treated warmly and with respect." That shut all the kids up. Stephanie watched as Duo slipped over to the door—unnoticed—and put something on it. "Yet please refrain from worshipping them, for we want them to get a normal, pleasing experience from our high school. Also no pretending to be one of their group, _Mr. Sullivan_." Duo gave her a look of innocence from his unnoticed return to his seat. Everyone thought he was trying to be Duo _Maxwell_, not one kid was smart enough to figure the truth out. Or else no one wanted to believe it.

"Of course!" Duo replied. "Why would I ever think to do something like that?" Mrs. Gilpin just glared at him.

Sighing she turned and called out, "You can come in now!" The door opened to Wu Fei walking in, and a fully loaded chalk eraser landed on his head. White powder blanketed his dark hair as he wore an expression of shock.

"Maxwell!" Wu Fei yelled as Duo burst into laughter. The other kids were horrified at what Duo had done.

"You should've seen your face!" Duo cried. He looked up as Wu Fei began walking over to his desk. Duo stood up as he rambled, "Now look here, it's not my fault that your hair can't stay all shiny black with chalk dust in it but—ah!" Duo took off like a bullet as Wu Fei tried to kill him. The two ran to the back of the classroom and began to run up towards the front with everyone staring at them in shock besides the other pilots, who had come in the room to calmly stand by the teacher's desk, watching.

Duo noticed the tensing of Bren's muscles and silently cursed. As Bren's elbow shot out Duo turned so that the impact wouldn't get a rib. Duo crashed to the floor, groaning in pain. Quatre frantically reminded Heero of his deal with Une as Trowa ran over to restrain Wu Fei, much as they both wanted to hurt Bren themselves.

"Ouch! What do you line your jacket with, Gundanium?!" Duo cried. "Fuck."

"It's your fault for disgracing Mr. Chang like that," Bren retorted as he stood up. "You should show more respect to someone who saved your life." Duo stood up, seething with rage.

"You're always talking about respecting the gundam pilots; well maybe you should start practicing what you preach!" Duo shot back. "You always talk about Deathscythe being your hero for saving your life, well maybe you should start showing him the respect you speak so often of!"

"I don't need to show any respect to _you_!" Bren yelled. "You're a poor excuse for a fag and a total slut! Why should I give you the respect a gundam pilot deserves?!"

"I _AM _A GUNDAM PILOT!" Duo yelled back, a vein showing on his forehead. "YOU'RE JUST TOO STUPID TO REALIZE IT!"

"OH YEAH?! AND WHO CAN PROVE IT?!"

"I can," Heero stated. The room hushed as Heero walked over to Duo and put a supporting arm under his shoulders. "You shouldn't yell with that injury."

"I know, I know," Duo replied as he looked at the floor. "He just pissed me off."

"What?" Bren was absolutely stumped.

"If you'd watched the news at all this weekend instead of that stupid football game you'd've known," Stephanie informed him. "Duo Maxwell is the biological son of Jonathan Sullivan, and has been attending this school as Duo Sullivan." Bren's eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"_This_ fag is Duo _Maxwell?!_" Bren proclaimed in surprise and unbelief.

"Yes," Heero answered as he gave Bren the death glare, which nearly did kill him. "And if it weren't for the direct order from Une not to kill any students I'd have snapped your neck by now."

"Wondered why it was still attached," Duo commented. "And don't worry, he probably bruised a rib slightly but I turned to the right angle for him to not break any just in time." Heero sighed in relief and picked Duo up. As Duo asked when he had become such a show-off Heero walked over to Duo's desk and put him down. Duo sat in his desk as Heero took the one next to him. Quatre and Trowa made sure Wu Fei didn't hurt Bren as they led him over to Duo and they took the remaining seats behind him.

"Why didn't you tell us, Mr. Sullivan?" Mrs. Gilpin asked.

"Because Dad was being a prick and I wanted him to stew about it," Duo answered. "And also because I don't want to be treated as a god, it was bad enough when you were all trying to be my friend to get money outta me. Because let's be honest," Duo gave everyone in the room an even stare, "if you had known you'd all be scraping and bowing to me, and you all know it." Every student dropped his gaze, unable to deny the truth in his words.

"Well then," Mrs. Gilpin commented to break the tension in the room, "let's not waste time and get to work on the next set of lessons. Open your books to page thirty-nine…"

Duo and Stephanie led them to the lunch room after their fourth period class.

"We could always go off campus but it's a bit easier to just eat here," Duo commented. "Less hassle with trying to find a seat. Plus it's a café and has lots of good stuff." Duo smiled to reassure them that it wasn't the terrible stuff that most schools served. Heero found a gentle smile weave its way onto his face. How he had missed those smiles. It was so nice to see them again after… Heero abruptly stopped.

"What's wrong baby," Duo asked as his brows furrowed together.

"I'll kill her," Heero growled as he glared into space. "I'll rip her little fucking head off—no. I'll tear her skin off her first, bit by tiny bit, and then rip her muscles off her bones and _then_ rip her head off."

"What Relena did just fully hit you now, didn't it?" Duo asked as he grabbed Heero's hand. "Don't worry about it sweetie, she can't reach us here."

"Not if I reach her first," Heero growled.

"Steph, help them all get lunch as I take him to out to our lunch spot and try to calm him down please," Duo pleaded as he grabbed Heero's arm and began to drag him off. "Come on Heero; let's find a place where your glare won't kill everyone in the vicinity." Duo succeeded in dragging Heero down the hall and then outside where Duo grabbed a secluded tree that people were obviously avoiding.

Duo got Heero to sit down and then starred him in the eye, still holding his hand.

"What's wrong, Heero," Duo asked. "What's really wrong?"

Heero sighed and starred at his lap, "I missed you, and I missed you so much that I've only been able to feel joy that we're together again. But, Relena took you away. I want to make her hurt as much as it's surely hurt you. I also don't want her around so there's no possibility that it could happen again." Heero looked up as he noticed that Duo's hand was trembling. Duo looked deathly pale, and Heero instantly knew that something had changed in his braided lover.

"When I had to leave you," Duo shakily started, "I was devastated. And every day all I saw of you was the sugar-sweet romance with Relena the news keeps putting on. I-I couldn't handle it." Duo looked down at his own lap, ashamed. "I've had abandonment issues ever since Solo died and it's usually not that bad but…"

Heero furrowed his eyebrows in worry. Duo's tone was making him fearful. "Duo," he asked firmly, "what happened."

Duo looked back up at him with teary eyes. "I planned to kill myself." Heero's eyes widened in shock as Duo rambled on, "I wasn't really conscious of it until I had everything ready. It scarred the shit out of me and I know it's selfish but please don't try to kill Relena! If she finds out she could separate us again and I don't know how I'd deal with loosing you again!" Heero grabbed Duo into a hug as Duo lost himself to his tears. "I'm sorry," Duo told him. "I'm just scarred."

"It's alright Duo," Heero reassured him. "Even if Relena does find out, I won't put you through that again. I won't draw attention to us, but it's on the news."

"I know," Duo whimpered.

"I'm not going to let her separate us again though, don't worry. I'll always be here for you, I promise." Heero continued to hold Duo as his tears dried up, whispering reassurances to his love.

The others joined them as Duo's tears stopped.

"Are you alright Duo?" Quatre immediately asked, sensing Duo's pain.

"Yeah," Duo gave them a weak smile. "I'm doing better now." Yet he made no move to get out of his sideways position in Heero's lap, and Heero gave no inclination that he would let him had Duo wanted to.

"I got your lunch," Stephanie commented, trying to dispel the awkward cloud above them. "And you should've seen their faces when they found out what all the café had!"

"I can imagine," Duo replied. "I've seen those shocked faces so many times I can predict how they'll looked down to the last detail."

"Obsessive much?" Stephanie teased.

"Don't be jealous because I don't show you the same attention," Duo shot right back, appearing to be in better spirits. She stuck her tongue out at him and then passed him his lunch.

"I got one for you, Yuy," Wu Fei stated as he handed Heero one. Heero nodded his thanks. Heero took a bite of the normal looking sandwich and widened his eyes.

"Is it good?" Duo asked as he laughed at Heero's face. Heero nodded as he took another bite. Duo opened his noodle thing and said, "Try a bite of mine." Duo took a bite and then kissed Heero. Wu Fei rolled his eyes as Stephanie starred at them in shock. Heero pulled away with a smile.

"It's good," he commented. "But then again, it may just be because I like you so much." Duo smiled and kissed him again.

"Duo," they head a male voice say in a condescending tone. They looked up to see a man in a casual suit with short black hair.

"What's up Mr. Mires?" Duo asked. "He's the councilor," Duo added as an explanation.

"A few of the students are complaining about what you're doing," Mr. Mires answered. "And my job requires me to remind you that there is a school rule about no PDA."

"I'm a rebel," Duo reminded him, "I've never followed the rules."

"We've spent our life being rebels," Heero added. "That's the reason we won the war. We're not going to stop now." Mr. Mires sighed and opened his mouth to say something else as Duo and Heero shared a glance. The words Mr. Mires was going to say died in his throat as Heero and Duo started to passionately make out in front of him. Mr. Mires turned beat red, and instantly turned around and walked off. Duo pulled back and flipped off the people starring horrified at them as Heero ravaged his neck.

"Try not to get kicked out again Duo," Stephanie commented as she ate her lunch, perfectly used to Duo's antics.

"Again?" Quatre inquired.

"Yeah," Stephanie answered, "Duo told off Mr. Mires about how he wasn't going to stop dressing how he liked even when it disturbed people because no one would mind if he was female. He was already in a bad mood and got pissed off and started yelling obstinacies."

Wu Fei snorted, "Sounds like his diplomatic qualities haven't changed." Duo turned to stick his tongue out a Wu Fei. "You know Une won't approve if you get kicked out the first day, Yuy." Heero sighed and stopped, not wanting Une's wrath.

Duo pouted for a while before giving a resigned sigh. He was about to take another bite of his lunch when his muscles froze on him.

"Are you alright?" Heero asked. The pilots training made it possible for them to immediately notice the violent change in Duo. Duo opened his mouth to say something when his body began to convulse in pain. Heero hugged him tightly as Duo shook with violent tremors that scarred them all. "I'm taking him to the nurse," Heero stated as he stood with Duo in his arms.

"I'll call Rodger," Stephanie said. "He might know what's going on. Follow me." Heero nodded as they both ran to the nurse's office. Quatre and the others stayed behind to clean up before making their way there as well, getting directions from another student.

Rodger came bursting into the nurse's office, red from the run. It had taken him half an hour to get there, and Duo hadn't stopped shaking.

"Here," Rodger instructed as he pulled a pill bottle out of his pocket, "give him five grams of this." He handed the bottle to the nurse who went to prepare it. "How long has he been shaking?"

"Half an hour and two minutes," Heero answered.

"Crap," Rodger muttered. "Make that eight grams," he called.

"Does this happen often," Heero inquired. His hold on Duo tightened as a particularly violent tremor shook him.

"About three times a month," Rodger answered. "We don't know why, only that some unknown donator keeps sending us medicine that makes it stop." The nurse came over and gave Duo a shot, and he immediately began to calm down.

"It's from Dr. G," Duo breathed out as he found his voice. "A few weeks after we began training he gave me the medicine, and I've had to take it in order to keep my muscles from quivering like that." He relaxed against Heero's strong chest as his body twitched a few more times. "I don't know what it is and I get the feeling Dr. G does, but he won't tell me."

"You should keep some with you, Duo," Rodger scolded. "I was lucky and the traffic was good, yet the middle school is so far away. What if there's a limit and I can't get to you in time?"

"I'll keep some on hand," Heero stated. "Duo can't talk or move during these… episodes, so it may be better if I keep it instead." Rodger nodded and handed him the bottle the nurse had given him back.

"I hadn't known that," Rodger stated. "I thought he was simply in too much pain to talk, not that he _couldn't_."

"Well you aren't trained to notice muscle movements like we are," Duo commented, his voice a bit stronger. "It was obvious to Heero because of that."

Quatre and the others came in, obviously worried.

"Crises averted," Duo stated, "I'm okay now, what took you guys so long?"

"The principle gave us a welcoming lecture," Wu Fei growled. "We couldn't get around her."

Duo weakly nodded, "Sounds like her."

"What was all that about?" Quatre asked as he sat down. "You had us worried."

Duo shrugged. "Ask Dr. G, I don't know, yet he keeps giving me medicine that stops it." Duo gave a thoughtful look. "In fact… nah, not likely."

"What?"

"Don't worry," Duo answered with a smile, "It's nothing. We got a few minutes left for lunch, did you guys finish eating?" Duo changed subjects.

"While she was lecturing us," Wu Fei answered. Duo laughed.

"Well I'll get going if you're feeling better," Rodger interjected. "I need to get back to class."

"Thanks for coming over kid," Duo said as Rodger got up. Rodger smiled at him.

"No problem, but make sure you don't skip any more dosages." Rodger glared at him with his hands on his hips as Duo gave him an innocent look. "Don't give me that look; I know you skipped it this morning as you rushed off for school."

"Does he need a daily dosage?" Heero asked, worried.

"Weekly," Rodger answered. "I'll see you later," Rodger waved goodbye and left.

"How come we never knew?" Quatre asked.

"You hid it remarkably well," Trowa commented.

"Well come on," Duo commented, "be serious. A gundam pilot on meds? You wouldn't have taken me seriously and would have always worried about me. That would have taken away some of my effectiveness, so Dr. G ordered me to hide it."

They all nodded in understanding, for looking back, they knew Duo was telling the truth. Heero sighed and put his head on Duo's shoulder.

"Scare me like that again and I'll give you the silent treatment," Heero informed Duo, his voice tired.

"I'm sorry hun," Duo said as he leaned his head against Heero's. "I didn't mean to."

"I know."

The bell interrupted their conversation.

"Class time, off with you," the nurse stated as she shooed them out.

A/N: There ya go! The plot starts to show... and I'm getting the feeling that you can all tell what's gonna happen. Looking at it now, it is a tad cliche, but not as much as it would be if I turned Duo into a girl and the tremors were from that or something. I hope you guys are enjoying this, and aren't too weirded out by the OOCness.

Sorry about the mouth feeding, but it was funny to write! Oh, and I've noticed that Trowa hasn't talked until this chapter. Oops. Guess I'll have to pay more attention to that, heheh. Well, I know what I want to do next so I should have the next chap. up soon. TTFN!


	6. Glimpsing My Soul

A/N: Hiya, I'm back again with another chap. This one has a pure spur-of-the-moment-I'm-not-sure-if-I-should-keep-it-in-here part at the end. You'll understand what I'm talking about when you get there. Maybe it was just because I think Duo'd look great in drag winks.

Ch. 6

They were headed to their next class—Sally had put them all together—when Heero got an idea.

"Will you guys be okay by yourselves for the rest of today?" Heero asked. The others caught what he wanted to do and nodded. Heero smiled gratefully at them. "Thanks. Come on Duo." He grabbed Duo's hand and walked towards an exit.

"What are we doing?" Duo asked as he let himself be led through the halls.

"We didn't get to eat so…" Heero let his reply trail off. Duo smiled, unable to help himself.

"What's this?" Duo teased. "The perfect solider is _skipping_?" Heero flushed a tiny bit as they walked out of the school's entrance.

"N-not really," Heero replied. "I'm just taking my boyfriend out to eat, and forgetting to get back in time."

"Well, I see you've picked up my talent at artfully telling the truth," Duo commented as he laughed. They raced across the street as the sign turned to 'don't walk', weaving around the few kids still crossing back to the school.

"So what's the plan?" Duo asked as they headed towards the grocery store. "What, buy hot pockets and have a glaring contest to cook them, whoever's is better cooked wins?"

"Nope," Heero answered, "picnic." Duo starred with his mouth hanging open, stopping abruptly in his tracks. Heero turned around to stare at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"You've just really become a hopeless romantic while we've been apart," Duo answered. He jumped with a tiny yelp as the automatic doors hit his arms and then retreated. Heero laughed and pulled Duo out of the doorway.

When his laughing was under control Heero told Duo, "I've always wanted to take you on a picnic; I've just never had the courage until now."

"Really?" Duo asked as he rubbed his sore arms. Heero nodded.

"To tell the truth I've wanted to take you on a moonlit picnic in that really pretty park in Sanc that we celebrated the end of the war with a kiss in," Heero added.

"God, you _are_ a hopeless romantic," Duo said. He leaned in to hug Heero tightly as he added, "But I wouldn't have it any other way. If we get back to school for last period then I'll repay you."

"How," Heero inquired as he grabbed a thing of sandwiches off a shelf.

"Last period is drama," Duo informed him with a wink. "I've got a project due that I think you'll enjoy." Heero rolled his eyes, knowing he wouldn't get any more than that.

They grabbed some drinks and chips, bought them, and then went out to a small park not that far away. They sat on the grass beneath a tree and began to eat, comfortable in the silence.

"I love you, Heero," Duo suddenly spoke up. Heero starred at him oddly.

"I love you too," he replied. "What brought that up?"

"Well," Duo supported himself on his arms and he leaned back as his eyes took on a soft gaze. "I just thought about how nice it is that I don't have to constantly talk around you, and that we can simply sit here in silence without it being awkward." Duo sighed and his gaze turned a bit sad. "I talk myself ragged a lot, and people don't seem to understand that while I run my mouth faster than a rocket engine, I also just like to sit and appreciate the life that's all around me. Most people think there's something wrong with me when I go quiet and just soak up the life that flourishes in this new peace."

Duo's eyes narrowed a bit as he continued, "Solo was always sitting somewhere, it seemed, just breathing in the life only he could see. Life I never spotted because of all the death around me. I started to sit with him, but I would focus on him, nothing else. After he died I truly started to do it for real, yet all I could soak up was the death I saw everywhere." Duo chuckled. "I guess that's where Shinigami comes from." Duo raised his head to look at the sky, his peaceful expression easing Heero's worries.

"I find it easier now," Duo added. "Father Maxwell and Sister Helen really helped me to see life for the good in it, and it helped me deal with all the pain I had. And that's why I make everything one big joke. I think," here Duo paused for a moment as his brows crept closer to each other. "I think I always do it because it's my safety net, and if I didn't, the pain of life would hit me full force again, and I wouldn't be able to handle it."

Heero placed his hand on top of Duo's and also looked at the sky.

"I think I have your previous problem," Heero softly commented. Duo looked at him with interest as Heero confessed, "I learned to feel again because I focused my world out of curiosity on you when not on missions, and you were so full of life and sunshine." Duo quirked an eyebrow at 'sunshine'. "You were my all, and still are to some degree. I reverted back to my quiet self when you were gone, and everywhere I looked I was remembered of you, because the life around me was so like the life you hold inside."

Heero turned his head to smile at his angel. "Looks like I need to be taught how to appreciate life without thinking of you, huh?"

Duo smiled lovingly. He turned onto his side and kissed Heero tenderly. It was just their lips meeting, yet it was more loving than any kiss besides the first few they had shared.

"Mmm," Duo sighed as they pulled away. "I love you so much, Heero." Heero smiled at him.

"I love you too, Duo," Heero replied. "More than I know it myself." Duo blinked and smiled tenderly at him. How he loved his prince.

"What did I do to deserve a prince such as you?" Duo asked as he rolled over to cuddle beside Heero.

"The same as I, to deserve heaven's purest angel," Heero answered. Heero held Duo close to him, and they snuggled there under the tree much like they had done when they had kissed under that tree in Sanc.

All too soon for the two of them it was time to go back to school. They threw away their trash and made it back in plenty of time to catch Mrs. Jerden's drama class. Duo had gone backstage for a while, and then joined Heero back in front, with his hair done up in a high pony-tail, wavy from the braid, and make-up highlighting his face, bringing out the color of his eyes. Heero quirked an eyebrow, yet Duo didn't explain.

"You guys came back," Trowa observed, slightly surprised, as they went over to sit by them in the theater.

"I had a project to turn in," Duo explained with a wink as he plopped into a chair, "and I didn't want Heero to miss it for the world."

"Why are you wearing make-up, Maxwell?" Wu Fei couldn't help but ask.

"You'll see," Duo said with another wink. That was clearly all he was going to say on the matter.

"Okay Duo," Mrs. Jerden called out from where she stood on stage as soon as the bell rang. "I know everyone here's eager to hear you perform, so go on ahead and get ready."

"Okie dokie!" Duo called back with a smile. He hopped up and headed backstage to prepare.

"Well, I'm glad you pilots decided to join our school," Mrs. Jerden said as she turned her attention back to them. "Everyone in the school knows who Duo really is now, and I'm glad he came. Duo really needed the friends." She smiled at them warmly. "Welcome to our to our little Drama family! Do you guys have any questions?"

"Yeah," Wu Fei spoke up, "does Maxwell always play female roles?" Mrs. Jerden laughed at that.

"Only when he volunteers," she replied.

"You asking to see what competition you'll have," Duo's question rang out. That set most people to laughing as Wu Fei blushed.

"NO!" he yelled back. They could hear footsteps going out a door and getting quieter.

"I think he'll be ready soon," Mrs. Jerden commented. "Duo's always been fast at changing." She hopped off the stage and sat in the front row. "I think you'll want to sit on an end, Heero," she commented after a moments thought. "If I know Duo, he'll drag you into his performance." Heero nodded and moved to an end chair that was next to the center isle.

"Oh, and just to warn you," she added seriously. "The challenge was to sing a song the opposite gender sang, so don't be surprised if Duo comes out in drag." At their wide-eyed stares she explained, "I _told_ him he didn't have to go that far but… he's very dramatic and I don't doubt that he'll go that far." The others didn't doubt it either; they just were surprised that Mrs. Jerden wasn't throwing a fit about it. Not to mention anyone else in the room. They all looked eager to see the show.

An upbeat drum started to blare around the room. Everyone turned their attention to the back of the theater, where Duo suddenly appeared in a brilliant lavender spotlight as other instruments joined the drum beat.

Heero felt his jaw drop. Duo was standing there in a form-fitting black leather mini-skirt that showed off his flawless legs. He wore a black boat-neck t-shirt that was rather low-cut to complement it. His arms had simple purple and gold bracelets while he wore a sparkling purple chocker. He strode down the isle easily in his tall black heels as he began to sing in an alluring female voice:

"_Tonight's the night we're gonna make it happen."_ He smiled at one boy in a seat that was practically drooling and stroked his chin as he passed and continued, _"Tonight we'll put all other things aside."_ Duo turned his back to another boy and squatted low, shaking his chest as he sang, _"Get in this town and show me some affection."_ Duo stood back up and continued down the isle with a seductive swing in his hips. _"We're going for those pleasures in the night. I want to love you, feel you, wrap myself around you. I want to squeeze you, please you, no! I just can't get enough!"_

Duo finally came down to Heero's front seat and grabbed his hands and pulled him out to join him. _"And if you move real slow, I'll let it go… I'm so excited!"_ Duo began to dance with him. _"And I just can't hide it! I'm about to loose control and I think I like it!"_

Duo smirked at Heero, who was standing there with his mouth nearly hanging open. _"I'm so exited, and I just can't hide it! And I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I want you!"_

Duo turned around with Heero's hands in his, making Heero hold him as he put on a sadly dreamy face. _"We shouldn't even think about tomorrow. Sweet memories will last a long, long time."_ Duo spun out of that and wiggled as he led Heero up the isle by his hands and sang, _"We'll have a good time baby, don't you worry! And if we're still playing around, boy that's just fine!"_ Duo pressed against Heero and began to dance around him again. _"Let's get excited! We just can't hide it! No, no, no!"_

Heero sighed and gave up. He began to dance with Duo. Duo smiled and continued, _"I'm about to loose control and I think I LIKE it! I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it! I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I want you! I want you!"_ Duo threw himself at Heero and kissed him, his legs wrapped around Heero's waist. The skirt didn't reveal anything but shorts, considering he wasn't stupid enough to do this without shorts on. Heero kissed him back and the class cheered as the music stopped. Duo pulled off and Heero let him down as Duo beamed at him,

"Did you enjoy it?" Duo asked, a gleam in his eye.

"More than I should, considering I'm drooling over your feminine looks and I'm gay," Heero quietly answered. Duo gave a hearty laugh to that one that didn't stop even as he headed backstage. Heero smirked, and went back to his seat.

A/N: The sap! My God! I'm so sappy when it comes to romance, I can't help myself. As for the drama project... I always listen to music as I type, and as I was listening to "I'm So Excited" by The Pointer Sisters and got the idea and... I'm sorry, I couldn't resist!

Wow, I'm actually updating everyday, which is amazing. My readers at FictionPress are probably jealous. I hope it'll keep up and I won't run out of steam. Well, off to get the next chap. started, in case I don't get it up tomorrow, happy 4th! TTFN!


	7. Trouble at Port

A/N: Sorry for the day-longer-than-usual wait. I just could not type whatsoever yesterday. I tried with all my might but, nada. I probably burned out because I'm not used to typing this much. But I know where I want the next chap. to go so that should help! Enjoy this one till then!

Ch. 7

"Hey, how about we drop our stuff off somewhere and I show you guys around," Duo suggested as they walked out of the school gates.

"Sure, that sounds fun," Quatre replied. "We can drop it off at my house."

"Okay," Duo gave him a smile as Quatre began to lead them to his house. They dropped their stuff off at Quatre's big house, and then Duo began to take them on a tour of the colony.

"The train is the only way to get to the best place in the whole colony," Duo informed them as they went into the train station. "You can also see a lot of the other things along the way."

"Welcome Duo," the train master greeted. "You off to port again?"

"Gotta show it to my friends George," Duo answered with a smile. "It is the best place in the colony."

"Just don't stay there too late," George told him. "We don't want your dad angry again about you staying all night there."

"Will do," Duo called back as he headed to the train. "Put it on my tab!"

"Yes sir!" George saluted and then laughed. They all took seats on the train as Quatre asked what 'port' was.

"You'll see," Duo told them with a wink. Heero rolled his eyes and starred out the window. Another guy was frantically talking with the train master, whose eyes grew wide and began to run towards the train. Duo remained oblivious as the train began to move, the train master unable to reach them, even though he was yelling. Heero felt certain he was yelling at Duo. Heero's brows furrowed, this didn't bode well.

"Hun?" Heero snapped out of his thoughts to see Duo's concerned smile. "Is something the matter?"

"Just a… bad feeling," Heero answered. He put an arm around Duo's shoulders. "We should be on guard, but I don't think it's going to be too serious." The others nodded, and began the wary look out that only they could notice. Although, Heero noticed, it was much more relaxed than it would have been during the war. He smiled faintly. He was glad that they were able to relax nowadays. Former Ozzies who wanted revenge popped up now and again but over all they were pretty safe. They still kept in top form as they had in the war, they were just better at relaxing as they surveyed the area.

He came out of his musings as Duo leaned a head against his shoulder. Heero smiled down at his tired love. "Why so sleepy love?" he murmured as he kissed Duo's head.

"I always get tired a few hours after an episode," Duo replied. "Not bad enough for it to affect me though." Duo snuggled against his side.

"Cozy aren't we, Maxwell," Wu Fei commented.

"Just 'cuz you didn't see it in the war doesn't mean we didn't do it then too," Duo retorted. "So don't be jealous, it happened far before you could have prevented it." Wu Fei twitched an eyebrow.

"I'm straight, Maxwell."

Duo shrugged in response. "Whatever you say, Fei Fei."

Heero rolled his eyes. Trowa was keeping a watchful eye out as Quatre was gazing out the window.

"This place is beautiful Duo," Quatre commented after half an hour.

"Yeah," Duo replied. "The makers valued parks and gardens more than big towering cities, so we've got a lot of parks around."

"How much longer," came Trowa's quiet question.

"About another thirty minutes," Duo answered. He stifled another yawn just as he was about to say more.

"Why didn't you go home and show us tomorrow," Heero inquired in a disapproving voice. "You need sleep."

"Be okay," Duo mumbled as he snuggled in closer. "I'm used to it. Besides, won't sleep well at home. Be in shape when we get there, it never lasts more than an hour." Heero shared an exasperated glance with Wu Fei and sighed. Duo was a bit too much sometimes.

And yet, true to his word, when the train pulled to a stop thirty minutes later Duo was as hyperactive as ever.

"Kay guys!" he cried as he bounced out of his seat. "This is our stop!" They followed Duo out of the train and down a long hallway before coming into a large room.

What they saw made their breaths catch in their throats. The whole back wall of the immensely vast room was a giant window that looked out into space. You could see more than ten constellations shining clearly at you.

"Beautiful, ne?" Duo asked with an amused smile as he turned and saw their faces.

"It is," Quatre breathed. Duo was right; this was one of the most impressive space windows in any colony they'd seen.

"Not as good as actually being in space but it's breathtaking," Wu Fei observed. Trowa nodded his consent.

"I come here when I'm not in that great of a mood," Duo stated offhandedly. They walked to the window as Duo continued, "It usually helps me to calm down. Especially when it's later in the evening and there's no one else here. The guys that work here know me really well, and so don't kick me out. If it seems like I'm going to be here a while they just tell me to lock up and then they leave. I know all the codes and they trust me."

Heero put his arms around Duo's waist and drew him close. Duo put his arms around Heero's waist as well and they stood there holding each other, just looking at the stars.

It was peaceful for several minutes, and reminded Heero of when they would gaze at the stars like this on a resistance ship when everyone else was asleep. Until his pink senses started twitching, that is.

Heero whipped his head around and caught sight of Relena getting interviewed on the far side of the vast room. "Kuso," he swore. Duo pulled away slightly and looked where Heero's head was pointing.

All the blood drained from Duo's face as he spotted the pink princess. "Shit," he whispered. The others noticed the change in him and looked at Relena as well. All swearing in their own way they slipped through the crowd like shadows. Heero never let go of Duo's waist, for which Duo was eternally thankful. They managed to get to the wall, where a man in a workers uniform came up to them.

"Duo," he said, breathless, "my truck is outside. I need to make a delivery, you wanna ride?"

"Thank you Chad," Duo quietly exclaimed. Chad scanned the room and then inclined his head. As he took off they followed him, moving against the wall as an unnoticed shadow.

They snuck outside and smuggled into the back of Chad's large delivery truck. Once they headed off down the road a window rolled down and Chad's elbow rested on the edge.

"I owe you another one Chad," Duo told him as he leaned heavily on Heero. "She would'a killed me on spot."

"Don't mention it," Chad replied with a shrug. "You're a sweeper, even if you don't continue it as a business right now. Plus you've helped me on so many deliveries that I would not only be going against code, but I'd be guilty of not helping out someone who'd helped me. I hate that feeling."

At the other pilot's confused eyes Duo explained, "The sweepers have a code of conduct. Sweepers defend sweepers, it's a basic law."

"Thank you Chad," Heero told the driver. His arms subconsciously tightened around Duo as he added, "We are all in debt to you."

"Don't sweat it," Chad replied. "You guys saved the lives of my wife and daughter. They're my whole world, and if I can help you out in any way, I'm gonna do it without second thoughts."

"Even so we truly thank you," Quatre added. "We couldn't bear to loose Duo so shortly after finding him again."

"Like I said, don't sweat it." The car stopped at a red light and Chad turned around for a moment to smile at them. "Duo's become a good friend of mine. I want him to have the same right to love whom he chooses as the rest of us. Same to you, Yuy-san," he added as he turned back around. "I never liked how Relena forces herself on you when it's plain as day you don't care."

"Not everyone can tell," Heero growled. "They all think it's sweet."

"Where are you making the delivery," Wu Fei asked.

"Bout three miles from the Preventer station, why?" Chad replied.

"My house is near there, if you could drop us off there I can hide Yuy and Maxwell until Relena leaves." Duo tore himself from Heero's arms and ferociously hugged Wu Fei.

"You're the best! Thank you so much! God, I'd die if I had to sit with her at dinner again!" Duo rambled. "Especially now because she's sure to have heard the news from some idiot reporter by now!"

"What?" Wu Fei interrupted. "What do you mean dinner?!" Duo pulled back and glared daggers into the floor.

"She always comes over to Dad's house whenever she visits the colony," Duo ground out. "Then I have to be the dutiful son and entertain her during her stay, which she uses to brag on and on about her—thankfully non-existent—relationship with Heero." Duo caught sight of Heero's cocked eyebrow and went back to hugging Heero. "Not that I thought you'd leave me so easily," Duo explained. "But hearing nothing about you two getting along on a romantic level so well over and over, day after day wears on your confidence after a while."

Heero hugged Duo back as a gesture of understanding and forgiveness.

"To your place it is then," Chad commented. "Usually he camps with me and my family so his absence won't be noticed."

"Relena is sure to have her spies check out your place, Wu Fei," Heero noted.

"Don't worry," Wu Fei replied, "I haven't even legally entered this colony until two days from now. And Sally knows to keep my location a secret." Heero nodded as Duo looked quizzically at him.

"_Spies?_" Duo asked. "She's _spying_ on you?"

"She wanted to make sure I didn't go on any undercover missions again," Heero explained.

"Do I even _want_ to know?"

"I came back from a mission in some city slums, hadn't eaten in four days nor slept in two and had just trudged through a sewer. She said she understood why I neglected myself when she wasn't there and insisted that she'd take care of me. I got away with the compromise that Une wouldn't allow me to go on any undercover missions anymore, but she's still suspicious."

"I'm surprised you didn't sock her."

"I did."

"And?"

"She forgave me. Then tried to give me anger management herself."

"God, that bad?" Duo felt his eye twitch and Heero starred at it in amusement. "I wish I could'a clocked her one myself. I'd make her understand a thing or two if I'd been there."

"Then we wouldn't have had the anger management incident," Wu Fei commented with a smirk. Heero glared at him as Quatre burst out laughing.

"What happened?" Duo asked. Hell, even Trowa's shoulders were shaking with laughter, what had happened?!

"Later," Heero growled. Duo pouted adorably.

"So what's this about you still going on missions?" Duo asked when he realized that Heero was not going to answer him. They both knew that if Heero had looked at him a fraction of a second longer he would have. Duo's pout was hard enough for him to resist when they had been together all day for a month, much less when Heero hadn't seen it in nearly two years.

"Only when no one else could do it," Quatre answered. "There have only been three of those so far."

"We're here!" Chad cheerily announced. "Which way to your house?"

A/N: Another chappie complete! Wow, this is turning out to be a long story. And yes, Relena is on the move. Dundunduuuunnnnnnnnn! Sorry, is late and I'm too hyper. Well, because of lack of things to say, goodnight! TTFN!


	8. Relena's Anger Management

A/N: this chap seems short to me. But it's another update so I guess you'll all be happy. It ended at an ending spot anyway. Well, read on!

Ch. 8

Chad dropped Duo, Heero, and Wu Fei off at Wu Fei's house. He waved goodbye and drove off to drop off his delivery and then take Quatre and Trowa to their house. They went into Wu Fei's house to be greeted by Sally in an apron.

"Welcome back," she cheerily greeted as she went over to give Wu Fei a welcome kiss.

"What, no kiss for me?" Duo joked as he quirked an eyebrow at the couple. Seeing Wu Fei being dominant was odd.

"What are you two doing here," Sally asked as she pulled away from Wu Fei and walked over to them. She complied to give Duo a kiss on the cheek and nodded at Heero.

Heero snarled as he glared at the floor. "Relena's here."

"Oh dear," Sally commented as worry etched her features. "She's probably here for the conference in three days, why'd she arrive so early?" Sally rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "She wasn't supposed to be here, and the conference was moved to earth."

"That?" Duo exclaimed with one raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah, but Dad didn't get the memo till this morning." Heero watched as Duo's expression suddenly became like one when a cartoon character on one of those old shows he used to watch got a light bulb over their head. "Shit!" he suddenly proclaimed as he hit himself on the head. "Idiot!"

"I agree, but why the change of heart," Wu Fei asked.

"Dad was loudly proclaiming about having to welcome Relena to the conference today when it got moved and was mad that he had to send her on her way back to earth after she had come all this way. I was just too busy prancing around on cloud nine like an idiot to register what he had said! Damnit!" Duo began to hit his head on the nearest wall.

Heero grabbed Duo around the waist and dragged him away from the wall.

"We're all at fault here Duo," Heero reassured him. "Don't worry. It's not your fault." Duo gave an exasperated sigh and leaned his head on Heero's chest.

"I'm still an idiot," he protested.

"You are," Wu Fei commented, "yet that's not the reason we screwed up this time." Duo glared at Wu Fei and stuck out his tongue. He turned around in Heero's arms and hugged him back.

"I'm dead either way," Duo sighed. "Dad will tell Relena, and then I'm dead."

"No, Duo," Heero reassured his love as he hugged him tighter. "I won't let her. I'll stay here with you, and I won't give her the opportunity to kill you. I'll get her first."

"And then who will lead the peace movement," Sally inquired. "Leave her alive if you shoot her. She won't need her kneecaps at least."

"We _want_ an obsessed leader who'll—and I quote—give everything up to get my man?" Duo asked. "She told me that before she had guards knock me out and drag me to the funny farm," he explained.

"We'll deal with that if we come to it," Sally stated. "For now, come have dinner. You two can camp out in the guest bedroom as long as you're quiet."

Duo gave her a shaky relieved smile. "Thanks."

Sally nodded and headed towards the kitchen. Wu Fei squeezed Duo's shoulder as a reassuring gesture of support, and then trailed after her. Heero and Duo followed after Heero kissed Duo's forehead.

"So how long have you two been livin' together," Duo asked after they finished as a change of topic.

Wu Fei blushed adorably as he answered, "None of your business Maxwell."

"Half a year now," Sally answered after rolling her eyes. Duo gave Wu Fei a triumphant smirk.

"Only?" Duo feigned shock. "You moved slowly, Wuffers. Had you waited any longer you might've lost her."

"Not everyone moves as fast as you, Maxwell," Wu Fei retorted. "And besides, Sally wasn't _forced_ to stay with me like Heero was with you."

"Only in the same room," Duo shot back with a devilish smile. "The handcuff-you-to-the-bed routine didn't work so well on him."

Sally nearly chocked on her laughter as Heero rolled his eyes.

"That's because I got you first," Heero replied evenly. Duo smirked at him as Sally laughed her guts out and Wu Fei tried to stifle his nosebleed.

"Which was only because I was tired," Duo retorted. "The Perfect Solider decided to get me after I had two hours of sleep on return from a mission. _I_ at least did it while you were in shape."

"Well the coward's way out got me what I wanted," Heero replied with a smirk.

"If only the damn laptop didn't beep," Duo sadly added with a wistful sigh. "But the faces of Dr. J and G were priceless."

"Wait," Wu Fei interrupted, "this actually happened?"

"Yes," Duo and Heero both answered.

"Did you think I was kidding about that?" Duo asked as he raised an amused eyebrow. "We were two teenagers with high hormone levels in puberty that were in love. What would you expect?"

"Not this," Sally laughed as she gave Wu Fei a napkin to press under his bleeding nose. "And especially not during the war, you weren't very sociable back then."

"Duo taught me over the war what the feelings that I had long ago buried were as they sprung up," Heero said with a gentle smile. "Love was harder to figure out, but lust was easy."

"Would have been easier if they hadn't reminded us of the risk we would be taking and convinced us that it was a risk we couldn't take," Duo grumbled. Heero rolled his eyes and squeezed Duo's hand.

"Sorry Wu Fei," Heero commented. "Didn't think you were still that prone to nosebleeds."

"Not as badly," Wu Fei told them. "But it does still happen."

"I've got the perfect remedy for that," Duo informed them as he rested his chin on his folded hands and smirked. "We can begin the therapy whenever you want, Fei-baby."

"No," Wu Fei replied. "I'll grow out of it just fine without your help." Duo shrugged.

"Whatever. Then tell me about Relena's anger management incident," Duo replied. Heero glared at his food as Wu Fei smirked.

"They haven't told you," Sally asked with an amused smile. Duo shook his head and then noticed Heero.

"Stop sulking," Duo ordered, "I'm gonna find out sooner or later."

"I'd rather later," Heero grumbled.

"Well," Wu Fei started, "this is what happened,

(flashback)

Relena sat there in her pink chair as Heero sat in another pink chair across from her. The others sat around them, mildly annoyed. Heero gave Relena his best death glare. He hadn't used it since the war, and so that in itself was proof of how angry he was.

"You seem really unhappy recently," Relena asked with a gentle tone. "So has anything happened lately? Anything that's annoyed you? A co-worker perhaps?"

"Yes, something _has_ happened," Heero answered. Before anyone could do anything he had grabbed her by the collar and was yelling, "Duo is _gone!_ He's been missing for a _full year now!_ I can't find _any_ lead of him and have done everything I can think of! I'm unhappy recently? I've lost the other half of my _soul!_ Of course I'm unhappy!"

Guards burst into the room and Heero dropped Relena back on her chair. She was starring at him in horror.

"You're still thinking of that little witch?" she asked, her face pale.

"I'm thinking of my love," Heero corrected. He stormed out of the room, leaving everyone speechless.

(end flashback)

"And that's the end of it," Wu Fei finished. Duo fell on the floor laughing. Heero glared at him as tears formed at the edges of Duo's eyes.

"I would'a done anything to see her face!" Duo finally managed to get out. He dragged himself back into his chair as he forced himself to stop laughing. Heero was still glaring at him. Duo sobered as soon as he met Heero's hurt eyes. Duo's own softened and he hugged Heero tightly. "I'm sorry darling," Duo told him. "I love you, and I never wanted to hurt you in such a way. I'm sorry."

Heero relaxed into Duo's arms. Sally observed the scene with interest. She had never seen Heero let his guard down as much as he as now. Even in peacetime, they all were still on as high a guard as they were during the war. To see Heero so relaxed, Sally had had her doubts about the two of them as a couple. But now she knew that Duo was the right one for Heero.

"Time for bed," she commented. "You've all got school tomorrow. Goodnight you two." Heero and Duo bid Sally and Wu Fei goodnight and then cleaned up the dishes as a thank-you gesture.

When they were done they went into the guest bedroom to find two pairs of sweatpants on the bed. Duo smirked—they both knew Wu Fei had set those out—and soon he and Heero were snuggling under the covers. Duo sighed as he leaned his head in the crook of Heero's neck. Heero relished the moment and let all of his guard down. They were safe now, and he was feeling whole again.

"I've missed you," Duo stated. "And I'm never, never going to make you suffer like that again." Heero looked down in surprise to see two beautiful violet eyes gazing up at him. "I promise I'll do all I can."

Heero smiled and closed his eyes. "Thank you," he murmured into Duo's hair. Soon the steady pulsing of their hearts beating together lulled them to sleep.

A/N: I love having Relena get told! There will be more to come, you can be certain. And yes, the dreaded confrontation is near. But I'm not going to tell you how near. So you'll just have to wait till I update again, Mhwahahahaha!

And yes, Duo and Heero were horny boys until the Doctors found out. The idea just strikes me as funny. Can't you just imagine their faces when J finds out that his "Perfect Solider" is about to screw the braided baka? It was just too funny for me not to add in. Wonder what my mind will come up with next chap. Well, TTFN!


	9. Dinner with Death

A/N: I'm sorry for the wait, but here it is! It's also longer than the last one, so it should make up for the longer wait.

Just another note, I titled it 'Dinner with Death' because Duo calls himself death and it was a cool title. Just thought I'd explain in case anyone got confused.

Ch. 9

Heero and Duo both chose to stay away from the school the next day. They decided instead to stalk Relena at a safe distance. Heero hid a few houses away as Duo crept into his room and changed clothes. As a last-second thought while he was pulling on his black wife-beater, he grabbed the clothes that Heero had lent him Sunday. Stuffing them all into a bag he headed downstairs. He shouldered the bag and slid down the banister quietly. It was a proud feat for him, considering he was wearing his favorite pair of tight leather pants.

He jumped off at the bottom to see Rodger by the door with his backpack.

'Relena doesn't know,' Rodger mouthed. 'Amaria and I kept Dad quiet about it. The reporters stayed silent for fear of suddenly finding themselves working in the mines.'

Duo put his hands together in a thank you gesture. Rodger knew he could read lips, yet Rodger wasn't able to himself yet. Duo was teaching him, but it was a slow process.

"Duo," came Relena's sweet call as Duo reached the door, causing him to flinch. With his best fake smile on he turned to greet her.

"Hey Bitchcraft," Duo greeted. "How's your plan for making Heero your slave working?"

"Perfectly," she icily replied. "He's shopping for my engagement ring as we speak."

If Duo hadn't known the truth, he would have gone off to kill himself. He satisfied her by dropping the mask and standing there with his mouth hanging open. "What? He is not!" Duo feigned horrified shock. Implying something by giving certain expressions with truthful words wasn't classified as lying in his book. Relena gave him a triumphant smile as Rodger seethed with rage.

"He is, it should be on the news by tonight," she replied sweetly. "You put up a good fight Duo, but I've won. It would be better for Heero if you never showed up again. That way he can get on with his life like he truly wants to. Goodbye." Relena strode out of the doorway, gleaming with triumphant glee.

Duo played his part well, walking slowly and without hope or light down the street. Relena drove off, content with the outcome. Duo walked for a while more, and then burst into a run when he knew he was out of her range of sight.

Heero—seeing Duo frantically run—ran worriedly to his side.

"Duo, are you okay?" He asked as Duo bent with his head nearly touching his knees. "What happened?" Heero had expected many things, Duo springing up and then backwards as he began to laugh uncontrollably, however, was not one of them.

"Re-Relena… caught me s-sneaking out and… and then…" Duo tried to say as he continued to laugh. "She told me… you were getting… getting her an engagement ring! And she thinks… she's won… 'cuz she couldn't tell that I-I wasn't… wasn't as s-sad as she… thought!" Duo gave up trying to speak and simply fell onto his butt, laughing.

"She said I'm _what?_" Heero exclaimed.

"You heard," Duo replied. "D-don't make me… say it… again."

"It's gonna be on the news later on," Heero observed. "And then all hell will break loose when some newscaster says, 'but isn't he dating Duo?'." That got Duo to stop laughing. He placed a hand to his chin as he thought about it for a few moments.

"But she'll have to stay on Earth until the conference," Duo commented when he was done thinking. "I have a feeling Dad wants to take me with him instead of Rodger this time—otherwise Relena never would have told me to disappear so it'd be easier on you—and we can just take care of the problem in the open like that."

Heero nodded as Duo's idea came into his head as well. "She won't be able to try anything with all those people around—not to mention the press coverage—and we can counter anything she throws at us." Heero helped Duo stand up and the two smirked at each other. Revenge was going to be sweet.

"Oh yeah," Duo said, "I've got your clothes with me." Duo handed Heero the bag as Heero nodded his thanks. They found a gas station and Heero changed in the bathroom. Slinging the bag with the old clothes now in it over his shoulder, they took a long walk around town, neither really wanting to go school. They only relaxed as they saw news coverage of Relena leaving the colony.

"How about we make a battle plan at my place," Duo suggested.

"Why not at mine," Heero inquired. Duo shrugged.

"Mine's closer. And besides," Duo added, "Dad is probably going to want to have you over for dinner sometime. Might as well get it over with." Heero nodded and they headed for Duo's house once again.

Heero was taken a bit aback by the sheer size of Duo's fourth floor room. No, room wasn't the right word for it. He had a suite. There was a large living room decorated in crimson red and black in a very gothic style, and a short hallway with three closets leading to his actual bedroom. The bedroom was decorated much like the living room. His carpet was as black as space. Silver and diamond hangings adorned the black with purple swirl designs walls as a crimson bedspread with lavender pillows softened the room a tad. He had a large dark wood dresser—the desk was in the living room—and a large full-body mirror next to his closet door. A sheer silver canopy hung around the bed. Large French doors adorned the back wall, leading out onto a small balcony overlooking the rose garden.

Duo took the bag from Heero and set it on his dresser as Heero starred in awe.

"Melissa decorated it," Duo informed him as he pulled back one side of the canopy. "She had a 'gothic phase' as she calls it, and decorated this room. It was supposed to be for a gothic girl that Rodger was being arranged to marry, yet her dad called it off. And so Dad figured he'd stick me in here. It suits me fine though."

Duo sat on the bed and crawled over to let Heero in. Heero snapped out of his daze and joined Duo on the massive bed. Duo let the canopy drop and lay down. Heero did the same and they forged a plan for the council meeting that Friday as they snuggled close. Heero found he couldn't keep his hands off of Duo for long in this romantic gothic room, and dinner came all too quickly to find a happily exhausted couple.

They showered and changed, and Duo lent Heero some of his looser clothes. Dressed in his most ragged pair of jeans and a slightly baggy shirt (for ones you buy at concerts never truly fit you) Duo slid down four banisters with Heero shortly behind. It was more convenient than walking down all those steps.

Heero was wearing normal jeans and one of his old green tank-tops. Duo had managed to steal one during the war and had held onto it as a comforting reminder ever since. Heero had promised to return it after Duo had explained why he had it.

"Hey Rodger," Duo greeted as he they walked into the dining room. Noticing his sister's absence he added, "And where's Amaria?"

"Staying with a friend," Rodger answered. He turned to Heero as they sat down. "Relena was lying this morning, right?"

"Yes," Heero answered. He put an arm around Duo's shoulders. "The only one I want to marry is Duo." Duo blushed and looked up at him with awe-struck eyes. "I would have before you had disappeared if it weren't illegal."

"I'm sure I can find someone who'd do it," they head Zechs comment. Turning, they saw Zechs join the table besides Rodger. "Hello boys."

"What are you doing here," Duo asked.

"Mr. Sullivan invited me to dinner," he answered with a shrug.

"Do we need to set an extra place?" Melissa asked as she came in. She gave Zechs a kiss and then turned to Heero and Duo. "Good to see you again, Mr. Yuy. Will you be joining us?" Heero nodded. "I'll just go tell them to prepare for another person then."

Duo thanked her happily. Mr. Sullivan came in then, and took the head seat. He noticed Heero and asked, "Are you joining us today, Mr. Yuy?"

"I dragged him along," Duo answered with a big smile. "Figured you wouldn't mind."

"I had been hoping to invite him," Mr. Sullivan commented with a nod, "so it's not really a problem."

"Good," Duo added. Melissa joined them shortly and sat next to Zechs. "You're joining us?"

"Well my boyfriend _is_ the main guest," she replied. "So of course I am."

"Well congrats," Duo told them with a cheery smile. "You better thank Sally for grabbing Wu Fei, Melissa. I thought for sure Zechs here was gonna grab him for himself after he joined the Preventers."

Mr. Sullivan barely managed to keep his mouth shut and not spew his drink everywhere, and Zechs just starred at him with surprised eyes.

"How'd you know?" he asked. Duo just laughed.

"Come on, Zechszy," Duo teased with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. "You were making such big doe eyes at him you'd have to have been blind _not_ to notice it."

Mr. Sullivan cleared his throat and then asked, "So how long will you be staying with us, Mr. Peacecraft?"

"Oh yeah," Duo interrupted, "you're going by Milliardo now, sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Zechs waved it off. "I'll be here until the conference, and I'd like permission to bring Miss Melissa with me as my special guest."

Duo looked at Heero with an amused face and mouthed, 'He sure knows how to make the right impression on dear old Daddy.' Heero gave him an amused smile and managed not to chuckle at that.

"Certainly," Mr. Sullivan replied, "I will feel better knowing she is in good hands while I'm away."

"Gosh Dad," Duo commented, "I know you're overprotective but good grief! You'd think you were leaving for a _year_, not a week."

"I know that's a problematic area of my life," Mr. Sullivan calmly replied. With a smile that almost looked like a smirk he added, "And _we_ are going to the conference. I've decided to take you with me."

Duo feigned surprise. "No! I thought you were taking Rodger again for sure when Relena told me to disappear!"

"She what," Zechs asked. Melissa sat by him with her jaw on the floor.

"Yeah," Duo answered, shrugging with a wave of his hand. "She said Hee-chan here was getting her an engagement ring and told me it'd be easier for everyone if I simply disappeared. Only shows she truly knows that she doesn't have a chance with Heero as long as I'm around."

"She doesn't even have a chance when you aren't around," Heero commented. Duo gave him a big smile and kissed his cheek.

"So why are you letting Duo go now, when you never did before," Rodger inquired. "I thought you weren't letting him take over the family business, and that was why you took me instead."

"I never knew that Duo was a gundam pilot," Mr. Sullivan answered. "It's unfair that he should be kept away from his spot on the council just because no one will allow him to go." Duo thought for a moment as servants brought out the first course.

"Thanks Dad," Duo finally said as he starred at his plate. "That means a lot." Duo then looked at Heero with a bewildered face and inquired, "We have seats on the council?" Heero began to chuckle.

"Yes," he answered. "They decided to give us honorary seats because we won the majority of the war." Duo scoffed.

"More like the _whole_ war," Duo commented. "Yeah, the resistance did some good but, come on! Oz didn't yell 'it's the resistance!' It was always, 'it's the gundams!' We did more damage in a few days than they did the whole war!"

"You always have to be politically correct," Rodger stated. "And they did help, even if they didn't do as much as you guys."

"What a pain," Duo commented.

"Truly," Zechs agreed. "Now how are you two going to break the news to Relena?" Everyone starred at the couple with inquisitive eyes.

"In front of as many cameras as possible so she can't assassinate me on the spot," Duo answered. "And you'll just have to wait to know the rest." Duo started to eat as a way of showing that he wasn't going to say anymore on the matter. They looked at Heero, who shrugged and followed Duo's example by taking a bite of the food.

Rodger sighed. "You're so stubborn Duo," he stated. Duo just nodded in agreement.

"Can't spoil the surprise," Duo commented as he winked at Rodger. "Just watch the news."

"I won't have to, since I'm coming as well."

"Oh, well then you get a front row seat."

A phone interrupted their conversation, and Mr. Sullivan excused himself from the table to take it.

"So are you going to make a move for Miss Melissa's hand," Duo inquired as he smirked at Zechs.

"Duo!" Melissa exclaimed while she flushed crimson. "That's an extremely personal question that I'd rather you'd asked when I wasn't here so that it could still be a surprise!"

"It will be, my dear," Zechs stated, "for I'm not going to answer." Duo pouted. "That doesn't work on me," Zechs added as he stared at Duo. Duo huffed and crossed his arms.

"How come it works on you, the ice prince," Duo asked, "yet not Zechs?"

Heero leaned over to Duo's ear and whispered, "Because I find it adorable and want to take you to bed with me every time I see you do it." Duo blushed and starred at Heero with wide eyes.

"Geez, again?" Duo finally asked when his shock wore off a few moments later. "If this is what our being apart does to you, I'll just have to try it if you ever slack off too much." Heero glared at him as he stuck out his tongue.

"Try it and you'll find yourself under house arrest," Heero commented.

"Oh, is the big bad Preventer gonna punish me?" Duo teased with a sly smile.

"Guys, please!" Rodger exclaimed. "We're eating for heaven's sake! Save the talk until dessert at least!" Heero and Duo shared a glance.

"Yes mother," they both replied as they rolled their eyes in complete synchronization. Rodger began to laugh as Zechs chuckled with Melissa.

"What charming twins," Zechs commented, "how ever did you come by them?"

"I'd like to know where to find the lucky catch you got to get those two beauties," Melissa added. "And if he was a lawman."

"Because you do realize that twincest will look bad on their permanent records," Zechs continued.

Mr. Sullivan came in just then to find them all laughing hard. For the rest of his life, he never could figure out what they had found so funny. Duo on the floor wasn't much of a change, but Rodger and Melissa along with him—with Heero and Zechs not far from falling—was quite a sight. He sighed and took his seat, eating as he waited for the moment to pass. Third course was over before they stopped laughing at random intervals at a small reminder of whatever had happened.

A/N: Just a note, most fancy dinners have four courses. Well, there it is! And get ready, the conference happens in the next chapter! So I'll do my best to have it up no later than tomorrow if at all humanly possible, TTFN!


	10. Confrontation of Love

A/N: Here we are, finally at the big confrontation! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

Ch. 10

The next few days passed by quickly, and soon Duo found himself on the plane to the conference in Sanc. He sat and controlled his breathing. He couldn't control his nerves at all.

"Are you alright Duo," Rodger asked.

"You think a guy who's used to having dangerous missions thrown his way wouldn't be scarred shitless when he just had to show the world that he's dating the Perfect Solider," Duo replied with a shaky smile. Rodger just gently smiled and grabbed his hand.

"I'll be there," Rodger told him. "And so will all the other pilots. It'll be okay."

"Thanks kid," Duo told him with a smile. "I needed that right now."

Heero waited by the door of the conference hall, waiting. He noticed Mr. Sullivan's limo pull up, and—in perfect view of the cameras—went over to it. He opened the door and helped Duo step out. Once Rodger and Mr. Sullivan were out, Heero led Duo inside the building with his arm around his braided lover's waist.

In front of the conference hall the other pilots met up with them and they all simply chatted like normal, showing the cameras stalking them that Heero and Duo being lovey-dovey wasn't unusual.

"Heero!" they finally heard the venomous pink voice call out in pure shock. They turned to see Relena coming up to them. She planted herself in front of Heero—who simply held Duo closer—and demanded, "What is going on here?! I thought you loved _me!_"

"I don't," Heero simply stated.

"What, are you trying to make me back off by lying to me and saying you're gay?!" She switched to pleading. "Heero darling, if I'm bugging you in any way please just tell me, you don't need to go to such extremes!"

All the warmth in the room died as Heero glared at her, barely able to keep himself from first degree murder.

"I _am_ gay, Relena," he retorted. "And I love Duo, not you. You _always_ bug me with your notion that we're soul mates."

Relena paled in shock, and then suddenly became the venomous creature that no one but Duo ever saw. "I love you Heero," she spat. "More than this whore from L2 ever could. I'm better off, I'm more reliable, and I've done just as much for peace as he has! He's the son of a whore and if it weren't for the DNA proof you wouldn't even know he was Mr. Sullivan's son! How could you possibly choose him over me?!"

The whole world seemed to hold their breath in anticipation for the answer.

"I love him too Relena," Duo stated. He pulled away from Heero and gave her his most honest stare, for he wasn't lying in the least. "And unlike you, I'm willing to give him up if he'd be happier with someone else." Duo gave a sad smile. "When you truly love someone, you will do anything to make them happy. And I will do no less."

"I'm the happiest I could be with you, Du-koi," Heero told him. Heero hugged Duo close to him as he informed Relena, "As to your question of why, do you need more proof than what just happened? You fight to control my love and my life, and yet Duo would give it all up in a heartbeat if it would make me happy."

Relena began to protest, yet Heero cut her off. "Duo has been through the same as I have, and it's more than anyone can imagine. I have never been that prone to feeling my emotions, yet Duo is so free with his. He taught me how to truly live, how to feel emotions while not being any less efficient in my missions. I can't truly explain to you why I love him so much, but I know this."

Heero stood straight and proclaimed so everyone could clearly hear, "You claim to be my soul-mate, but Duo is the other half of that soul. He is who I love, and if you take him from me again I will not be able to restrain myself."

Relena stood there seething in barely contained rage. Duo looked up at Heero and gave him a loving smile.

"I'm truly not worthy of such a prince," Duo commented.

"Like I said," Heero replied, "I'm no better, yet somehow managed to earn an angel." Relena nearly killed Duo on the spot as Heero—_her Heero_—kissed, _kissed_ Duo so tender and lovingly that no one could say it was anything but true love. Cameras flashed as Relena ran off, tears of hate in her eyes.

Relena was completely gone from Duo's mind as he kissed Heero. There was no one but them there in that moment, and it was the best he'd ever felt. When they finally pulled away—although in reality it wasn't that long—they were attacked with reporters and cameras all fighting to get their questions asked.

Duo and Heero never let go of each other as they spent the next few hours before the conference's start tediously answering the questions of those reporters. Duo inwardly swore that he'd never answer another reporter again; for once you answered one you couldn't stop until you had a valid reason to leave.

Soon the conference started, and Duo took his spot by Heero and Wu Fei. Trowa sat with Quatre a little ways off, and Rodger waved to him from his seat across the room.

Duo wondered how he had managed to stay awake by the time it was nearly over. He had given small insights when he felt it necessary—like when an issue about an orphanage being built on government grounds—but for the most part stayed quiet. At the end there was a section of any other issues people would like to bring up.

Of course, Relena had stood up and addressed them about her concerns for Duo's mental state, and prompting that he should be put back under observation.

"If I was going to go insane," Duo commented with an uncaring shrug, "I would've done it the moment Sister Helen died. Besides," Duo added with a roll of his eyes, "Dr. G _never_ would havelet me pilot Deathscythe if I was truly insane."

Relena tried to protest, yet the people there saw the logic in Duo's statement.

"I have been watching over my son for nearly two years now," Mr. Sullivan spoke up. "And although he is quite eccentric, I have never once had any reason to doubt his sanity."

"If Duo is to be placed under surveillance," Wu Fei shushed the crowd with his proclamation, "shouldn't he be taken care of by us? How many times has a gundam pilot escaped Oz, whose security is far greater than that of an institute? And Duo is the most accomplished of us in that regard. Would it not make more sense then to place him under our care?"

"With all due respect," Quatre added as he stood as well, "the horrors of what a gundam pilot has done are not truly recognized by most people. Wouldn't we, who can relate to Duo's pain, be better at helping him if something truly was wrong with him?"

"And why does Miss Relena only bring this up now after she's found out that Duo is dating Heero," Trowa inquired as he sat calmly with his eyes closed and arms crossed. The council thought about that, and then decided that Relena's claim was void. One reason being that with Duo in such close proximity to the other pilots now, they would be able to detect it if something was wrong.

Duo thanked all of his friends—even his dad—when the council was let out. It was almost dinner time, and Zechs was holding a ball at his large estate for the council members. They decided to change and then go there, but as they walked into the front hall Duo could tell that something was amiss.

The other pilots felt it too, and they subconsciously started scanning the room. One, two, three of Relena's private guards were along the top staircase with sniper rifles, but where was the enemy?

It hit Heero like a smack in the face as he realized what was happening. He went on high alert, and saw the one on the opposite side of the room begin to pull the trigger. The crowd hit the floor with screams as the shot was fired. Duo hit the floor hard, pale with terror.

Heero had pushed him out of the way, and was lying in his place with a wound in his chest. Duo snapped, and Shinigami instantly hopped on his feet and killed the three snipers with his own gun. He was about to go hunt Relena when Heero's whisper call of his name brought him back to himself.

Duo collapsed at Heero's side and took his lover's head in his lap.

"Don't worry," Duo crooned, "I'm here." The solider in Duo took over as he removed Heero's shirt to better see the wound.

"Status," Heero croaked.

"She missed your vitals, thank God," Duo answered. He took a knife out of his boot and sliced off one of Heero's sleeves—the shirt was ruined because of the blood stains that would be left over anyway.

"Yours baka," Heero told him. Duo leaned over to kiss his forehead with a gentle smile.

"I'm fine, love," Duo answered. "Thank you." Heero gave him a relieved smile. "Sorry in advance," Duo added as he took the long tweezers that Wu Fei was holding out for him. Trowa took the knife and shirt and began to cut a large bandage as Quatre ran to find Sally as he called the hospital. Heero winced as Duo yanked the bullet out of the wound.

"Shit," Duo mumbled. Heero raised an eyebrow. "Poisoned," Duo replied. Duo leaned and began to suck out the poisoned blood. He pulled back once he had a mouthful and spat it onto the carpet.

"Chance you'll get poisoned," Heero scolded.

Duo spat out another mouthful. "You saved my life so don't you dare deny me my right to help save yours," Duo retorted. Quatre came running up with Sally in tow.

"What happened?!" she proclaimed with wide eyes as she saw the scene.

"Poisoned bullet wound," Wu Fei informed her. "Someone tried to kill Duo."

"Relena's followers," Trowa informed them. "Saw Shinigami kill them." Sally nodded understanding and knelt by Duo. Duo spat again and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"Should be it," Duo stated. "What do you think?"

"You did an excellent job," Sally answered as she leaned over to inspect it. "No traces to be seen, but he will still need testing at the hospital."

"I'll go keep watch for the ambulance," Quatre informed him. Trowa nodded and he ran off. Trowa handed Duo the sleeve Duo had chopped off, neatly folded, and Duo pressed it on the bullet wound.

"Gauze would be better," Sally observed.

"But we don't have any right now, and it'll work fine," Duo retorted. "This had worked the whole war, why shouldn't it hold now when it just has to work until we get to the hospital?"

"Good point."

Wu Fei took the make-shift bandage from Trowa and Duo propped Heero up a bit higher. Wu Fei wound the strips around Heero's chest and then tied it tightly. Duo lowed Heero back onto his lap. Heero held his hand up, and Duo snatched it in his own quickly.

"You're fine," Duo reassured him as he stroked Heero's chocolate locks with his other hand. "You're gonna be fine."

"I offered my hand for _your_ support," Heero quietly informed him with a half-smile. "You always worry too much."

"How can I not when you've got a hole in your chest," Duo replied with one of his own.

"It'll be okay Duo," Sally told him. "The wound's not fatal. He'll just need a few weeks rest in a hospital at most." Duo smiled his thanks at her. Trowa and Wu Fei both put a hand on Duo's shoulders for support.

"They're here!" Quatre proclaimed as he ran up, breathless. Duo picked Heero up bridal style and carefully carried him to the ambulance. They got him in and hooked up on the stretcher and the four pilots climbed in. Trowa got into the front set and explained to the driver.

The worker in the back looked like he would protest, but one look at their faces made him stop. They all fit without too much trouble, so he figured that he could let the one passenger rule slide this time. They _had_ done a magnificent job bandaging the boy on the stretcher up, after all.

The ambulance sped off towards the hospital as Relena watched in horror. She hadn't meant this to happen. Sally came up to her and with Noin's help guided her home. They then talked with her about the consequences of her unhealthy obsession, and Relena agreed with no trouble to look into getting professional help. Noin got her to sign the necessary papers before she could change her mind.

Sally sat back with a relieved sigh. They just needed to hear good news about Heero, and everything would have worked out for the better.

Duo, in the meantime, sat in the waiting room biting into his thumb for all he was worth. Wu Fei was holding him in a tight brotherly hug, and Quatre held Duo's other hand as he sat in Trowa's lap. They were huddled on the bench in one pile of support for one another, all slightly scarred about Heero's fate. Yes, they had seen him be blown up and be fine, but they truly didn't want to have to wait a month for him to be alright again.

A/N: Duo's statement about what you do if you love someone is how I feel on the subject. It's harder, but I know I truly love those I do because I make that sacrafice.

And yes, I'm leaving you at a clifhanger. So sue me, it's not like I left you before you found out who got shot. That would be evil. I'm simply settling for mean :P. Well, I'll have the next chap up tomorrow if possible, so TTFN!


	11. Aftermath

A/N: Sorry it took so long!! I had a lot of stuff to do the past three days!! But as an apology, I've made it reeeeeeally long. So read on and enjoy!

Ch. 11

Heero woke up and was a bit surprised to hear the steady beeping of hospital machines. He lay there with his eyes closed as he waited for his memory to explain. It all hit him at once, and he swore.

"I should have killed her long ago like I said I was going to," Heero cursed out loud. "Why the hell didn't I?!"

"Mhmmm," came a sleepy moan next to him. Heero snapped his eyes open and whirled his head towards the sound of Duo's voice, wondering if he had gotten hurt somehow.

Duo sat there with his head and arms sprawled across a portion of the bed. His hand cradled Heero's as he shifted his head to another position. Heero sighed in relief as he realized the peaceful expression on Duo's face meant he was fine.

"You're up." Heero turned his head to see Wu Fei leaning on the doorway with his arms crossed. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"How much painkiller did they use," Heero replied. "I can't feel the wound at all."

"That's a good thing," Wu Fei stated as he walked over. "Considering they found that the pain from that wound was panicking your heart and could lead to a potentially dangerous situation."

Heero raised a thourally confused eyebrow. Wu Fei shrugged to tell him that he had no idea either. They shared a glance that said they simply thought the doctors were paranoid.

Wu Fei inclined his head towards Duo. "He's been here since the doctors finished with your first surgery after you got shot. Glad to see he's finally sleeping."

"How long have I been out," Heero inquired. Wu Fei's statement implied that it was more than his usual two days.

"Twelve days," Wu Fei answered. "Duo's only slept for four of those; the doctors were only successful in giving him sedatives twice. He caught onto the plot after that."

"Nearly two weeks? Kuso," Heero swore. "It wasn't that bad of a wound. I've had worse."

"Well, you did have a tiny trace of deadly poison that your body fought to get rid of," Wu Fei informed him. "But you're okay now, which is what matters."

Heero starred at his sleeping angel. How much had he been hurting during that time? Duo always worried too much, yet this incident gave him a right.

"Could you move him," Heero asked. He looked Wu Fei in the eye and added, "Please?" Wu Fei understood what he wanted. He nodded and went over to pick Duo up. He laid Duo down next to Heero and then pressed the button to let Heero sit up. Heero took Duo into his lap, propped him up against himself to where Duo's head was at his chest, and held his love in a tight hug. "Thank you."

"If you don't mind I'm going to go get some sleep now," Wu Fei stated. "I'll be in a room right next door that the staff set up with a cot. Notify me with the red button if you need anything."

Heero nodded. "Thanks Wu Fei, I think I'll rest a bit more."

"Good idea," Wu Fei commented. "Dr. James said to let you rest more when you woke up, but he said to keep you sitting up." Heero nodded his understanding, and then the two bade each other a good rest. Heero leaned his head on top of Duo's and breathed in the sent of his love. With Duo's heart beating close to his, he drifted off to sleep.

Heero woke again when Trowa and Quatre came into the room. Duo slept on soundly as he greeted them.

"Glad to see you awake," a doctor greeted as he joined them. He had a kind face and hair that looked a lot like Treize's had. "I'm Dr. James, but you can simply call me James."

Heero nodded his greeting as his hold on Duo subconsciously tightened. James noticed this and laughed.

"Duo can stay with you," he informed Heero. "We haven't been able to pry him from your side anyway, even when we had him sedated in order to make him get some sleep. Once you two began to get separated your condition worsened and Duo began to get hysterical."

Heero raised his eyebrows.

"It's true," Trowa added. "Wu Fei was the only one that could keep the doctors from separating you two when James wasn't around, so he was the one to keep an eye on you two most of the time."

Well if that wasn't one of the oddest things Heero had ever heard. It only got worse when Trowa and Quatre had to leave for some business thing. James had looked him straight in the eye and told him, "You may find this completely false and ridiculous, but Duo has a very strong power lurking inside of him."

Heero quirked an eyebrow. Could his day get any weirder?

"You have a great power as well, and if you need proof of magic's existence I can show you quite easily. Or ask the Dr that trained Duo. He's been giving him some drug that contains, yet intensifies Duo's power. It is that power that truly kept your heart beating." James sighed and suddenly looked years older.

"You still had a giant amount of poison in your blood. I can see magical power clear as day, and I could see that Duo's strange power was he only thing keeping your heart going. That's why when his hand began to leave yours, you began to die, and Duo went into something the magical community calls 'premature parting stress'; which is when a person is removed from a spell's need for contact before the spell is complete."

"How do you expect me to believe this," Heero asked.

James gave him a tired smile. "I don't; but I felt it necessary to tell you anyway. And to warn you, if Duo's powers got out of hand it could be very dangerous. So please be careful."

Heero gave him a dubious stare but nodded anyway. He _did_ remember—faintly—feeling the life seep from him as soon as Duo's hand began to part from his. It was all blurred though. It could be argued that it was a physiological thing, but he hadn't made it through the war by discounting something that sounded far-fetched. He decided he'd consider it and keep an eye out. Duo _did_ have a Shinigami side after all.

"Good. You can have an example of magic now, because I need to check your vitals," James stated. Heero watched as James closed his eyes and slowly opened them again as he whispered incoherent words. Heero starred in surprise at James' now blazing orange eyes.

Heero nearly gasped as he could feel rater than see the flame of James' eyes come towards him in an inquiring sweep. Duo flinched and opened his own eyes. Heero looked down at his still sleeping love to see Duo's eyes were completely black. A black electric shield surrounded the two of them as James' flame neared them. The two powers clashed in a brilliant show of sparks and light.

James was physically thrown backwards. He landed without a sound and grunted.

"Wake him up," James commanded. Heero began to whisper soothing words to his love. He knew it would hurt Duo terribly to kill someone like that and decided to calm him before he woke him. Heero rocked Duo against him and Duo's eyes slowly faded from complete black to his normal—human—violet irises.

"Heero," Duo slowly asked in the sleepy and confused voice Heero secretly loved hearing in the morning. "What happened?"

"You don't know," James asked.

Duo shook his head. He seemed completely oblivious of James' presence.

"You just had a bad dream," Heero informed him. "Don't worry, nothing's wrong. Go back to sleep, I'll fully explain later." Duo nodded and leaned back against his chest. Duo was sleeping once again in no time.

"You should have told him," James observed.

"I didn't feel that it was the right thing to do," Heero coldly informed him as he glared evenly. "I'll tell him later, but something tells me to keep it quiet for now. If you're done, I'd like to think alone on what's happened."

James nodded and left. Heero sighed and hugged Duo, who snuggled closer to him. He just felt that whatever it was that had happened, it was a danger to Duo if he knew… too soon. He wasn't ready for it yet, and Heero just instinctively knew all of this. Odin had told him to follow his heart before he died, and that was how Heero lived his life. He would do so now, when his heart violently told him that he had to keep it secret from Duo in order to keep his love safe.

The doctors cleared him safe and able to be released in no time, and soon they found themselves back in school as if nothing had ever happened. Duo was leaning against his locker in a pair of leather pants and his black boat-neck shirt when Heero arrived. Everyone else of their 'gang'—as Duo so artfully called it—was there already and Duo's face lit up as Heero walked over to give him a hug in greeting.

"Hee-chan!" Duo exclaimed as he kissed Heero's cheek. "You're late."

"Traffic," Heero explained. Duo nodded as Bren bumped into him.

"Watch where you're standing slut," Bren spat. Heero growled as Stephanie began to protest but Duo silenced both of them with a hand.

"Don't worry about it guys," Duo told them loud enough for Bren to hear from across the hall. "He's just pissed because he knows he can't get any of this." Stephanie burst out laughing behind a hand as Heero smirked.

Bren stormed over to them, seething with rage. Heero put a possessive arm around Duo's waist and glared him down. Finally Bren's friends dragged him off as the bell rang.

"Good to see he knows when to stop," Wu Fei observed.

"Oh, he always does that," Duo commented as they began to walk to class. "Usually he glares at me and tries to threaten me and I just insult him more. He can't ever do anything about it anyway; I always beat him if he tries to pick a fight."

"_That_ was priceless," Stephanie added.

"What happened," Trowa asked as they rounded a corner.

"Please tell me you didn't truly hurt anyone Duo," Quatre added.

"Oh no, he just made a fool of Bren!" Stephanie answered. "He had made a comment like that one, Duo told him to, 'not be bitter because you know your girl would be mad if you tried to get any.' Well Bren didn't take that to well—as you can imagine—and swung at him. There was a dent in the locker but Duo was standing calmly with his head bent to the side, a hairs-breath from the impact site!"

Quatre gasped. "That's cutting it a little close Duo," he scolded.

"It was fun," Duo defended. "Besides, I didn't want to make a big deal of it, but you can't just stop years of training and fighting from instinctively taking over."

Quatre looked like he wanted to protest but couldn't deny Duo's logic as Wu Fei nodded in agreement.

"Like when Quatre took out some guy that had trapped him against a locker with his arms," Trowa observed. Duo burst out laughing as Quatre flushed.

"T-Trowa!" Quatre sputtered. Trowa just shrugged it off.

"Anyway," Stephanie interrupted, "Bren took another swing at him and Duo grabbed his fist and flipped him _three doors_ down the hallway!"

Duo gave an embarrassed, 'aheh,' as everyone stared at him and suddenly smiled as he changed the subject, "Oh look, here's homeroom!"

And so classes began, and with all the homework from the days they had missed they didn't get a chance to talk to each other much until lunch. They took a break from their normal lunch routine and went out to eat at the 'Zoo Café'.

"Did you guys finish page 94 of the science book," Duo inquired as they sat down to eat.

"Not yet," Wu Fei answered as Quatre shook his head. "I'm on the third question."

"Oh well," Duo sighed. "I guess I'll just mooch off of Mr. Perfect, considering I saw you finish it." Heero gave him an even glare.

"Even if you are my boyfriend I will not let you set yourself up for failure by copying my work," Heero informed him. Duo pouted but Heero just went back to eating.

"How are you guys getting all this work done," Stephanie asked. "You have a _giant_ pile of work, and this stuff is _hard_."

"When you've been doing super advanced cal and trig for years now," Duo informed her in a bored tone, "geometry is no big deal. Same goes for the other stuff."

"I still say it is unjustified to make us go through school when we have already learned all of this," Wu Fei stated.

"It's the law," Quatre told him. "We have to go to school because we're under eighteen."

"You are?!" Stephanie exclaimed as she starred at them in open shock. The boys all looked at her oddly.

"Its common knowledge that we were fifteen at the beginning of the war," Duo informed her. "We're what, sixteen now?" Duo looked to the others who nodded.

"I always thought you were older," Stephanie said in an impressed breathless way. "Mr. Chang and the others all act so mature. I can see Quatre being that young, but not Trowa and certainly not Heero." She thought for a moment and added, "I'm quite shocked you're that old Duo."

"What?!" Duo proclaimed. "What does _that _mean?!"

"I thought you were a really tall pre-teen," Stephanie answered. "You certainly act like it."

"Oh thanks Steph," Duo retorted with a snort, "You're a _real_ pal."

"No problem." Stephanie gave him a charming smile as Duo stuck his tongue out at her. Heero just rolled his eyes and told Duo to finish his lunch so they could go outside, it was nice out. Duo sighed and did as he was told.

They lounged on the grass out by the back side of the school as they waited for the long lunch period to end.

"Seventy minutes is too long for lunch," Wu Fei stated as he gazed idly at the sky.

"Yeah," Duo sighed. "Oh well, guess that means I get to cuddle more." Duo instantly snuggled close to Heero, who chuckled while shaking his head. He put an arm around his braided lover and kissed his forehead. Duo smirked and kissed Heero on the lips, and Heero returned it.

"No fair Duo," Stephanie said. Duo broke away and turned towards her in order to stare bewildered at her. "Mr. Chang and I here are the only ones who don't get to make out with a hot boyfriend in the lawn, you should be more considerate."

Wu Fei began to sputter half-hearted protests—he was getting used to her odd comments—as Duo noticed Trowa necking Quatre.

"How long has it been," Duo asked Heero.

"Few months because of Quatre's work," Heero answered as he began to nuzzle Duo's neck.

"Hey Trowa," Duo called. "Music practice room A9 is never in use." Trowa nodded his thanks, and soon he and Quatre were walking off towards the music building. Stephanie starred open-mouth at their departure, finally getting what Duo had meant with his question.

"Thirty minutes left for lunch," Duo observed, "plenty of time, but I still wouldn't expect them back until class starts."

Stephanie looked alarmed as a beeping went off. "Oh no!" she cried as she grabbed her cell phone and starred at it. "I gotta go to practice, bye guys, sorry to run!" Stephanie ran off hurriedly.

"She's a cheerleader," Duo explained.

"You two are going to continue making out, aren't you," Wu Fei observed.

"Probably," Duo replied before he barely caught a moan from escaping. Heero was nibbling on his ear-lobe, and for some reason it had always been a 'hot spot'—as Solo had called it—for him.

"Then I will meditate, if you don't mind," Wu Fei informed them.

"Go ahead," Heero said before he recaptured Duo's mouth. Wu Fei rolled his eyes and began to meditate as Heero and Duo continued their shameless make-out session.

Duo found himself regretting telling Trowa about the abandoned room as he suddenly became aware of menacing eyes on them. Not to mention he was simply getting overrun by the teenage hormones that had been denied for so many years because of the war—during the training for it and the actual fighting.

Finally Heero got tired of ignoring the eyes and pulled from biting Duo's neck to glare at the eyes. A bunch of football players stood there in their letter jackets, and a tiny ways off a giant crowd of students had gathered.

"What," Heero snapped.

"You fags are disturbing our girls with your immoral display," the leader informed him with a sneer. "Unless of course Duo really _is_ a girl."

"Would you leave us alone if I was," Duo inquired. "Or are you just angry because I never accepted that 'date' you wanted to take me on."

"Lies!" he yelled, a vein popping out of his forehead.

"Jake would never!" his girlfriend proclaimed as she came to his side.

"I don't lie," Duo told him matter-of-factly. Duo stood—closely followed by Heero—and pulled out a small black tape recorder from his pocket. As Jake began to get pale Duo clicked the play button.

"Hey Duo," could be heard from the recorder. It was Jake's voice alright, and it sounded falsely concerned. "I'm sorry about the other guys, they just don't understand. It's not your fault you're beautiful. Why don't I make it up to you?" The voice became lecherous as he it continued, "I'll take you out to a nice movie, maybe stop and sneak into the park while taking you home. We could take a moonlit walk by the lake; it's a really peaceful place."

"No, I will not fuck you," Duo's flat voice could be heard denying him.

"You fag, will you realize I'm the best you could get?!"

"Do you realize I'll tell the whole school if you try to rape me? If you wanna be gay be my guest, but I'll not be your guinea pig in this new world of hormones."

"You'll be sorry you didn't accept," the voice growled.

"You'll be sorry when you find yourself without a dick anymore because you tried to rape me. So don't try it."

Duo clicked the tape off.

"How the hell did you hide a tape recorder in the tight pants you were wearing?!" Jake yelled.

"So you admit to having this conversation," Duo stated. Jake paled as his girlfriend stared at him. She slapped him as he began to protest and stomped off.

"I'll kill you," Jake growled. "Lying fag!!" Jake charged at Duo, closely followed by five of his friends. Heero kneed Jake in the gut as Duo dealt with two of his friends. Wu Fei was suddenly up and taking out the other three. More players joined in, and soon it was twelve against three.

In no time at all every attacker was sprawled on the ground in pain. Jake—who had been lying out of range—suddenly shot in and kneed Duo in the gut. He then punched Duo in the face, causing Duo to fly backwards. Duo curled on the ground as Heero sent Jake flying towards the wall. Jake slid down the wall with a grunt of pain. Heero walked over to Jake and picked him up by the collar.

"No one hurts my boyfriend," Heero coldly informed him, all emotion gone from his voice. Heero glared and slammed Jake into the wall. Jake stayed suspended in the dent in the wall as Heero punched him in the gut. Heero punched him twice more in the gut, and raised his hand back as Wu Fei told him to stop.

"Let me break his nose," Wu Fei said. "You take care of Duo." Heero nodded and went over to Duo as Wu Fei began to crack his knuckles.

"I'm fine," Duo stated as Heero kneeled by him. Duo sat up and added, "But man, I must be out of practice or something. First Bren elbows me and now this. Shit."

"We can get Une to let you join the Preventers," Heero informed Duo as he touched Duo's cheek to access the damage. "If one of us goes with you on the missions, it'll get you back into practice without you getting hurt too badly in no time." Duo smiled, and then winced as he stretched his cheek, which was beginning to swell.

"You boys," they heard Mr. Mires curtly tell them. They looked up to see his stern face. "Principle's office, now." He then turned on the crowd and yelled, "And you all get to class, lunch is over!" He forced the crowd to disperse as some other teachers helped the beaten boys to the nurses. Heero, Duo, and Wu Fei all followed Mr. Mires to the Principal's office soon after.

"So boys," she asked them as she starred at them through her pointy glasses, "what happened?"

"Jake picked a fight," Duo answered with a shrug.

"Unprovoked?"

"Has anyone in this damn school ever needed a reason to pick on me?!" Duo demanded. "I never see you doing anything until they try to fight me and I beat them 'cuz they all suck!"

The Principal just starred and waited for someone to answer her. "We've had this argument before, Duo," she finally stated after getting glared at by the two Asian boys. "I would if I could find any proof." Duo snorted.

"Check the security tape," Heero suggested curtly. "We need to get Duo ice for his cheek."

"Not until I get my answer. You boys are military trained; you could have seriously hurt someone."

"We only truly hurt Jake," Wu Fei informed her. "The others will just have minor bruises."

"I will still need to know the cause." She starred at them, unyielding even under Heero and Wu Fei's glares.

"I was making out with my boyfriend, alright?!" Duo suddenly yelled, all patience gone. "And it would have never been such a Goddamn problem if I was a girl! I personally freed this colony from Oz and I'll be damned if you think I'm going to hide what I am and how I act! I'm an eccentric jokester who happens to be gay, so sorry for daring to let myself be happy and love someone!"

Duo sighed as his shoulders slumped. His energy was gone. "I'm sorry you have to deal with all this shit Heero," Duo apologized. Heero got up from his chair and took Duo in his arms.

"I don't mind," Heero told him. "If it means I get to hold on to you, love, I can deal with it. And things will get better after high school. These children are simply too immature." Duo leaned into Heero's hug and sighed.

"I won't fault you then," the Principal stated. "Just be more careful. People like Jake are only a problem because idiots follow them. I'll make sure the senior football team stays away from you though."

"Thank you mam," Wu Fei said as he gave her a small bow. "But now we must be off." The Principal nodded, and the three of them left.

As they were walking to the nurse to get some ice Sally, Quatre, and Trowa met them in the hall. Sally's grim face instantly alerted them that something was wrong.

"I've checked you guys out," Sally informed them. "We're going back to my place."

"What's wrong," Wu Fei asked.

"We need to talk," Sally answered. "Something big has come up."

A/N: And that's that. The plot will start to thicken from here on out. I'll do my best to get the next chapter out soon, but I think I'll abandon the one update a day thing. I'm just not able to do that right now, sorry. But still, I won't make you wait more than a few days. So don't worry about waiting a month before you can read a new chapter, that won't happen, TTFN!


	12. Magic Revealed

A/N: I would have had this up yesterday but I was having computer problems. Apparently the file was too big or something, but I got it fixed. Well, I hope you all enjoy it!

Ch. 12

Heero gave Duo some ice from Sally's freezer and then sat on the couch next to him. To their surprise, Une had shown up not long ago. It must really be bad news if she had come all the way from headquarters to talk to them about it.

"We need to discuss two things," Une informed them. "The first is the most troubling. The Doctors that trained you are on the move. At this time we neither know what they are doing or where. We only know that G has gotten in a big fight with J, who is trying to stop him from doing something big. Should any of the doctors contact you we need you to tell us immediately what they said. Especially you, Duo."

Une took out a paper and handed it to Duo. "For the second issue," she continued as Duo took the paper, "we will need you to join the preventers Duo. Remnants of the White Fang have popped up, and this time they have a strong leader that can actually do some damage to the peace. We will need your help in snuffing out this steadily growing fire."

"No sweat," Duo commented as he took a pin from the table next to him and began to sign his name. "I was getting bored just being a rich brat anyway."

Une gave a rare smile. "Good. Because if you are there to take them down it'll be much easier." Duo looked up at her in confusion. "Their new leader is banding under 'The Cause of Deathscythe' as he calls it. He says that the new peace doesn't truly give peace to all, and the ones who suffer on L2 have been forgotten. He wants to separate L2 from the rest of the Earth Sphere and rule it, to 'make it a place of true peace for those forgotten'."

"Well you have to take into account that the situation on L2 hasn't really changed that much," Duo commented as he handed her the signed contract. "These kids just need to understand that the peace process will take some time to truly account for everyone. And I see where you're going with this. They're more likely to believe it if the God of Death himself explains it to them."

"So you understand," Une nodded to tell him he was correct, "you're to convince them that we _will_ take care of the situation in L2; it's just that good Preventers that can do it are hard to come by and are needed to take care of threats to the peace."

"You want me to recruit them," Duo inquired.

"That would be an ideal situation," Une answered.

"No problem, when do I leave?"

"You will leave today, the others will join you one day later as backup should you fail."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Duo remarked.

"Why don't we send one of us with him," Quatre inquired. "After all, they may decide to take Duo hostage."

"I may have not been on the force this last year but I think I can handle a situation like that," Duo retorted. "If it happens I'll sneak out. It's never been published how I managed to get out of all those Oz cells after all."

"True," Quatre apologized, "I'm just worried."

"He'll be wearing a bullet-proof vest under his uniform," Une informed them. "Don't worry, he'll be properly protected."

"To change the subject," Duo interrupted, "were the guys I shot working on Relena's orders? No one ever told me."

"No," Une gave him a wry smile. "They were maniac followers of hers that somehow managed to get into her personal guard. They were acting on their own twisted desire to force Heero to love Relena."

"It did give us the opportunity to finally make Relena accept psychiatric help for her obsession," Sally commented.

Duo snorted and crossed his arms. "I doubt that'll help much."

"It's progress nonetheless," Sally replied.

"When will your cheek stop swelling," Une inquired. "It could be troublesome if they thought we had beaten you into talking with them."

"By the time I reach L2," Duo answered. "The slight bruise should also be pretty faded, most of them heal completely in four days, and it'll take three to get there."

Une nodded. "Then I want you headed for L2 by dinner time, understood?"

"Yes mam," Duo saluted. "I'll just need to talk to Dad." Duo winced. Heero put a hand on his shoulder, concerned about his injuries, but Duo shook his head to say that they weren't the cause. "He won't like it much, he believes in battles being fought and won with words. He won't be happy with me going in there with the mindset of having to defeat them in a battle."

"I could talk to him about it," Quatre suggested. Duo shook his head.

"It's okay; I'm used to his anger by now. I've never really pleased him."

"Then go home and get on with it as the others go back to school," Une commanded. She reminded them of her scary general self, and so they all hustled to do as she had said, for no one really liked being around when she had a rare personality switch.

Duo walked downstairs with his old duffle bag slung over one shoulder. It was the one he had used during the war, and it was a little weird to have to use it again. Then again, it also felt reassuring, like his life hadn't changed so much that he didn't have to fight at all anymore. Call it psychotic, but Duo enjoyed fighting. It gave him an adrenaline rush like no other.

His father was in the study like normal, and Duo paused at the doorway to study the man. Their hair color was the only thing they had in common, and they fought almost all of the time. Yet as Duo starred at this worn out man, leaning over an endless sea of papers, he couldn't help but feel something in his chest stir. In that moment he reminded him of Father Maxwell, when all the hardness of being a middle-class church running an orphanage where you needed a first-class income in order to care for all of them finally got to him.

"Would you like some help, Dad?" Duo nervously asked. Mr. Sullivan snapped his head up in surprise to stare at him. Duo had never called him dad—well, when it was just the family—before, and Duo was getting uncomfortable under the surprised stare. Had he done something wrong in a moment of impulse?

Suddenly Mr. Sullivan's face softened as he smiled. "I would love some," he finally answered, "but it looks like you're already busy."

"I've joined the Preventers," Duo informed him. "But Une only said I had to be headed to my mission by dinner; it can wait a few hours."

"The Preventers, huh?"

Duo looked at his feet. This was why he didn't like being around his dad very much. It made him feel like he used to when he viewed Father Maxwell as his dad. Like any possible wrong move would make the man he so admired not approve of him, which was stupid because he didn't even admire Mr. Sullivan that much.

"Yes," he answered. "I know you don't approve of fighting, but I am a solider. I've fought my whole life, I don't know how not to."

"It's not that I don't approve of fighting," Mr. Sullivan interrupted. Duo looked up at him in surprise. Mr. Sullivan went to sit down on the small couch on his study—the one Duo would find him asleep on at five in the morning and always make sure to cover him with a blanket—and motioned for Duo to join him. Duo put down his duffle bag and joined him on the couch.

"It's just that I've had so many friends in the army," he continued. Duo listened in wonder as his dad's eyes became the distant ones of those seeing memories long past. "But they were all fools, whose hearts weren't in it. They wanted the glory and fame of being a war hero—if such a thing truly exists—and were killed within the first month of actual fighting. I just hate fighting with anything other than words because of all the young fools it inspires. Several don't know what they're getting into, and then they end up dying, or mentally scarred by the realities they experience."

Mr. Sullivan sighed heavily, but continued before Duo could speak, "I guess I'm so hard on you because I wonder if you were like that. I know that G took you into training after the Maxwell Church Massacre. I just wonder if you did it because you had no other options. And if with all your joking around if you truly realize—even after all you've done—that it's not a game and what war truly means."

"I joke as a way of self-defense, mainly," Duo commented. He starred at his hands—which had betrayed him to fiddle with the end of his braid even though he didn't want his dad to know of his nervous habit. "I wouldn't be able to see the good in life if I took everything seriously. I joke to point out the good things in life, more so once I met the other pilots. If it weren't for me lighting up the mood they would have drowned in all the bad things they were doing."

Duo gave his dad a faint smile. "I knew what I was getting into; I've been surrounded by death since birth. I knew I could be the cause of other orphans like me, but the chance of making things like what happened to Father Maxwell stop permanently was too appealing. I knew that I was the best choice for it. After all, I'd been surrounded by death so much, why bother having some idiot soil his hands with it when I could do it?"

"How I wish I could thank those who raised you," Mr. Sullivan stated as he tenderly cupped Duo's cheek in his hand. "You're a remarkable boy. Yes, your rebellious attitude does scare me at times, because how you manage to live that way is beyond me and the rules my father beat into my head with a mallet. But you truly are remarkable. Perhaps you could teach me how to let go the bitterness I hold for my past, and instead see things the way you do."

Duo felt that he was on the verge of tears. This kind man had been hiding behind that angry and stuck-up façade?

Mr. Sullivan seemed to have read the question in Duo's eyes, for he added, "I'm afraid my mask isn't as good as yours. I'm sorry if I've hurt you with my—as I heard you so graciously call it—stick-up-my-ass attitude. I developed it to please my dad, and it just sort of stuck."

"Dad," Duo whispered. Who knew this question would be so hard to ask? But now that his dad had allowed him to see his real self, Duo simply had to know. "Did you leave me knowingly?"

"Oh Duo," he answered. "If I had known I would have been there in a heartbeat to take your mother home and care for you both. I knew she was pregnant, but she was deathly ill. The doctor had told me that she had died when she was in her second month. If I had only known,"

Duo suddenly found himself clinging to his father for all he was worth. He had always been scarred that he had simply abandoned his mother, and that he was simply a mistake that wasn't supposed to have been alive. Mr. Sullivan hugged him tightly as they mended a year and a half of misunderstandings after a lifetime of hurt.

Duo found himself crying. It wasn't very hard, but still. Duo could count on one hand the people that had seen him cry. Father Maxwell and Heero were the only ones who had seen him cry the painful heart-wrenching sobs that come with extreme grief. With the new addition of his dad, that made it six people who had ever seen him cry.

When they had gotten over the emotions raging inside them, Duo had set himself to helping out with the office work. Mr. Sullivan had to revise what he thought of Duo's business skills, for Duo was a great help. He even pointed out a major error that someone in the company had made that could cost them millions of dollars.

By the time dinner had rolled around, the two shared a better understanding of the other. They stood together at the door as Rodger came home from his extra prep class.

"Are you leaving Duo," Rodger asked.

"Yeah, some confused kid is trying to take over L2 and bring 'true peace' to it," Duo answered. He sighed and shook his head. "He just needs someone to show him the truth about the matter. Peace will take time to reach the crime infested slums that so many kids call home. I hope to talk him out of this war he's planning, but I'm prepared to fight if I have to."

"I'm sure you'll be able to make him see the light," Mr. Sullivan commented as he put a hand on Duo's shoulder. Rodger raised an eyebrow at the odd behavior of the two, for Duo just smiled thanks at him.

"Good luck, Duo," Rodger said. He took a small necklace off and handed it to him.

"This is your mom's locket," Duo observed. "Why—"

"You have to return it to me personally," Rodger interrupted. "I want it back and I won't accept it from anyone else."

Duo smiled in understanding. He hugged Rodger tightly as he reassured the younger boy. "I'll be back, I promise."

"You better," Rodger replied. The two pulled apart and Duo waved as he opened the door.

"I'll see you guys in a few days, don't worry," Duo told them. He headed out the door.

"Duo," Mr. Sullivan stopped him as Duo turned back to look at him. "Be careful, son."

Rodger felt his jaw connect with the floor. He had to know what had happened between the two now, Mr. Sullivan _never_ called Duo son.

Duo just gave him a gentle smile and replied, "I will Dad. Don't worry." And then Duo was gone, leaving the house with a Duo sized hole in it as the two men silently prayed for his safe return.

Three days later Duo was wearing his new Preventers uniform and walking down the roads he knew so well.

"A Preventer in the slums," a boy commented. "You're either here to kill me or you've got some sense about you and you want to see the reality of the world."

"The roads paved in blood and misery are home to me," Duo replied. He slowly turned around to stare the boy in the eyes. "Boys whose voices and eyes hold the kind of maturity only the cruelties of life can show you all too early are not strange sights to me either."

The boy's eyes widened. He whipped out a gun and demanded, "Who are you?"

"One who knows the pains of L2," Duo answered. "I'm Duo Maxwell."

"The God of Death," the boy breathed. He dropped to his knees in front of Duo, who had to fight not to laugh at the silly display. The boy actually considered him as a god? "My name is Greg. What do you wish of me?" Duo was sure thankful of all those years of having to control his laughter; otherwise he would have burst out right then.

"I just wanted to talk to you about the stupid thing you're doing," Duo answered. "You need to understand that the new peace we have is just that, _new_. It will take time for it to truly reach every area."

"That's time we don't have!" Greg proclaimed as he jumped to his feet.

"Don't you think I know that?" Duo snapped. "L2 is my home too, and I want nothing more than to allow the children here the same possibilities as other children on other colonies! Don't you think I'm sick and tired of having to see the youth of my home sell themselves to crime and pimps to simply survive?! But there aren't any Preventers left for the task of cleaning up this dump! In order to prevent a war that will just make more orphans on these streets we need to focus our forces fully on the fires that pop up!"

Greg was letting those words soak in as Duo reigned in his urge to unleash Shinigami. He was never able to control his rage when someone implied that he didn't care about his home.

"When I am able to take care of my home I will," Duo finally continued. "But the fires will not stop until I am old and grey, and don't ask me how I know; I just feel it in my bones. I also know that as long as there are fires, I will put them out until I die. If you and your troops truly want to bring peace to our home, then you should join the Preventers. I talked with Une, who has promised that she will let you all take care of L2 after you finish training. And I will _personally_ see to it that you are all stationed about L2. So you can either help by joining the Preventers, or hurt our home more by bringing war to it once again. Even you can not deny that the lack of war has helped things out here."

Greg was silent as Duo walked past him with his hands in his pockets. As Duo visited the Maxwell memorial he could feel eyes on him. He was not bothered by Greg watching him. The boy needed to figure something out about Duo, and it was the only way he would be able to.

Duo knelt in front of the gravestone for Father Maxwell. It was the only grave he showed respect to. He had laid a flower on Sister Helen's, but he and Father Maxwell were due a long talk.

"The war is over Father," Duo said. "We won. I told you on my last visit about the Gundams and the relationships I held with the pilots. Heero is now very publicly my boyfriend, and I'm sorry if you disapprove." Duo let loose his special sense for knowing what the dead were feeling, and he could feel Father Maxwell smiling down on him from heaven.

"Thank you for approving, have you been watching me?" Duo asked with a smile. He felt Father Maxwell nod. "Then I don't need to inform you about what has happened, and I hope I've done you proud." Duo could tell someone was coming near, but he knew it was Heero. As expected, Heero had arrived early. Duo had asked him to, he had wanted him to meet Father Maxwell. "And you needn't worry, even with things patching up between me and my birth dad; you will always be my father."

Heero knelt by his side and Duo took his hand, letting his special ability flow over to Heero.

"I'm able to sense the dead," Duo confessed to Heero. "And also—as you can tell—share that skill with someone of my choosing. The one you feel smiling down at us is Father Maxwell. I wanted you to meet him."

"It's an honor," Heero greeted. "I am very blessed to know your son." They could feel the smile get brighter. Duo smiled, and then his connection broke.

"It only ever lasts for two minutes," Duo confessed. "But at least we know he approves from where he looks down on us."

"I thought you didn't believe in God," Heero stated.

"I don't," Duo replied as he stood up. "But I do believe that Father Maxwell went to the heaven his God promises. Him and Sister Helen. If there were ever any deserving of the free gift, it was them. Let's go."

Heero stood and took Duo by the hand. They left the colony silently together as they felt Greg's eyes watching them depart.

The next day they were positioned with their Gundams in front of the line of mobile suits led by Greg.

"We've decided to join the Preventers," Greg announced. "Only a third of us have decided to continue to fight. _They_ are the White Fang members." Most of the mobile suits then flew over to the Preventer's ship, ready to go to headquarters and begin their training. About thirty were left facing them.

"Let's get this party started then," Duo proclaimed. Heero nodded through their visible link, and then Duo led the charge as he broadcasted his battle cry, "Time to meet the God of Death!"

Ten decided they were better off alive and fled, only to run into Heavyarms and Sandrock. Duo took the legs off of suits as Heero got rid of their arms. The opposing pilots were frightened and not that great at their job, so they finished disarming them quickly.

"A bit too easy," Wu Fei stated. They were escorting the thirty to the ship when a visual feed from Heero popped up.

"They're gonna self-destruct," Heero told them. As one the pilots scattered. The mobile suits glowed with the tell-tale sign of self-destruction and then exploded, causing the gundam pilots to doge debris.

"Status," Heero asked.

"I'm alright," Quatre answered. "But Sandrock lost a scimitar."

"Fine," Trowa answered.

"Nataku and I sustained no damage," Wu Fei answered.

"Right as rain, how 'bout you hon?" Duo replied.

"I'm fine," Heero answered.

The five of them gathered close to each other and decided to wait there for Une's orders. She was on the ship.

A mobile suit shot out and charged at them. When he was close he began to self-destruct as well, yelling, "For the forgotten!" The pilots wouldn't be able to get away in time as they noticed the giant bombs strapped to the mobile suit's back.

Duo darted out in front of the others as the suit blew up. As they heard the sounds of the explosion yet felt none, the pilots all braved a look. There was a black and violet energy shield around them, keeping the explosion back. They opened up visuals with each other, and gasped as they saw Duo. Duo was sitting straight up in his seat, eyes completely black. The explosion died down, and Duo slowly returned to normal.

"Duo are you alright," Heero asked.

"I-I think so," Duo replied. "I'm just tired. I've never raised a shield that large before. Are you guys okay? I mean, it did work right?"

"Yes, thank you Maxwell," Wu Fei answered.

"What do you mean by 'raised a shield'," Trowa inquired.

"Um," Duo flushed in embarrassment as he decided to stare at his lap. "Well, I can do some magic. Dr. G helped me focus my odd power into shield form, and so I can make a shield."

Trowa nodded in understanding as the others starred at Duo in surprise.

"I can talk to animals, so I slightly understand," Trowa commented.

Quatre blushed and added, "I'm slightly more than empathetic, I sometimes catch thoughts too, by accident."

"And what do you do, Wuffers," Duo teased, "turn into a Dragon?"

"No," Wu Fei replied as he looked off to the side. He added quietly, "But I can grow scales."

Duo burst out laughing as Wu Fei flushed. "And you Hee-chan," Duo asked after he had managed to get his laughter under control. "What's your magic power?"

Heero shrugged. "I don't know, J said I did have some, but he also said magic was a useless weapon and so we never developed it."

"Well I guess we'll just have to find out then," Duo commented. "Magic has a habit of exploding if you deny its use."

"Alright guys," the audio from the ship gave them Une's orders. "Come on in, let's go home."

A/N: There's the chap. And just so you all know, I'm not trying to make any political point with Mr. Sullivan's opinion of war, it's simply his thoughts and an excuse for why he's such an ass at times. I think he'll stop being such an ass now, but there will still be moments of course. Well, till next time, TTFN!


	13. Deathly Waves and Mermaid Tails

A/N: Sorry for the wait, I've just had a lot to do recently and quite honestly ran out of steam for typing period. I took yesturday off and read but worked on it today, and here's the next chap! I think things will start to speed up quickly from this point on.

Ch. 13

Heero walked into his house and simply tossed his duffle bag on the coffee table. He had too many thoughts running through his head to put anything away right now. At least it was Friday afternoon, so he had time to think. He would do all of his missed school work Sunday.

He plopped down on the couch and sighed. They had spent three days taking care of some training and paper work, and then took the three day trip back to L7. They had almost missed two weeks of school. At least Sally had gotten their work sent to their homes; it was the routine they had gotten used to when it came to balancing school and work.

_And most kids think it's the end of the world not having an extra hour to study because of their job,_ Heero sarcastically thought. _They should try missing two weeks of study, and then having a week of nothing _but_ tests with only two days to prepare._

Heero was _not_ looking forward to the next week of school.

His brain wandered over to more pressing maters. Duo knew about his powers? He hadn't thought that he did. Hmm… maybe he didn't know about the fact that he did it unconsciously? That had to be it. Heero still felt that he shouldn't tell him though.

What was his power? Heero scowled as he looked back over his life, looking for clues. Was his power simply the inability to kill someone after he had told them he would? He scoffed at that one. Maybe his power was simply an odd obsession with Duo's long hair. He liked long hair, and Duo's had enticed him from the beginning. He'd never seen hair that long before, and Duo's was so soft when he ran his fingers through it…

Heero wondered how his train of thought about his dislike of his school work had turned into thinking about Duo's hair. Perhaps he was just tired. Yeah, that was it. He had been super worried about Duo these past few days because he hadn't been able to keep a close eye on him during the past weeks and had been plagued with thought of how Duo could get hurt or captured. Yes, he was extremely overprotective. From a psychological point of view, he blamed his 'lonely childhood'. They wonder of psychology, Heero could get away with anything by blaming his childhood.

Heero's train of thought went back to Duo's hair, and he fell asleep as he decided to ask to brush it when they next met, he hadn't since the morning two days before the war ended.

Duo rang the doorbell to Heero's place, and was met with silence. Frowning he took some pics out of his braid—mentally promising to apologize to Heero later—and broke into the house. No giant alarm went off as he opened the door, which meant Heero had forgotten to.

All of Duo's worries scattered as he saw Heero splayed out on the couch fast asleep. He smiled gently and shut the door. Duo found a blanket in one of Heero's closets and used it to cover Heero. His boyfriend truly looked like an angel while he was sleeping. He didn't look like a child like most people, but he had a soft peacefulness about him that was rarely seen otherwise. Duo smiled as he looked at him for a while longer, and then headed to the kitchen. He would let Heero sleep and make sure he had a breakfast to wake up to.

Heero awoke and his nose instantly smelled something good. He shrugged at why it was there and snuggled deeper into the blanket. Wait…

Heero sat up and starred at the blanket. He hadn't grabbed one, why was…?

"Good morning," he heard Duo's cheery voice call.

Heero turned to view over the couch and saw Duo in the kitchen, cooking merrily in the green apron that Heero's neighbor had given him as a 'welcome to the neighborhood' gift. Heero raised a sleepy eyebrow as Duo put down the pan he had been holding. Heero rubbed his eye as he replied, "Good… morning I guess."

Heero found his forehead in contact with Duo's soft lips.

"I came about eight and found you on the couch," Duo explained.

"Did I already give you a key," Heero asked—even though it came out as more of a mumble—as he swung his legs over the side of the couch to where he was sitting properly on it.

"I uh," Duo scratched the back of his head nervously, "kinda broke in because you didn't respond. Sorry."

Heero blinked as he tried to get his brain to wake up. He told his braided love, "Its okay."

"Breakfast—or is it lunch now?—is ready!" Duo gave Heero a large smile and gently dragged him over to the small table he had set up in the kitchen. He had found it in a closet earlier. Heero sat down as Duo brought over the plates and two cups of coffee.

Heero thanked him and took a large swig of his coffee; he needed his brain to wake up, preferably sooner rather than later. Duo put the apron away and joined him.

"When did you get to sleep last night," Duo asked as Heero began to eat.

Heero paused a moment in thought. "I… don't know."

Duo laughed, "What, worried about me?"

"Yes," Heero admitted as he tried to hide his flush behind his coffee cup. "I wanted to make sure you would be okay over the mission, yet we hardly saw each other… I know I'm overprotective, gomen."

Duo placed his hand on top of Heero's and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't be, it's sweet. How is it that even when you're not trying, you're the most romantic man in the earth sphere?"

"The same way you stay the most beautiful one in the earth sphere," Heero replied as his flush increased a bit.

"Even in the morning when my hairs in shambles and I can't get my eyebrows to pick a direction?" Duo gave him an incredulous stare that was part way teasing.

"Especially then," Heero answered. He knew he was blushing like a silly school girl now. "And your eyebrows aren't that hard to tame. Plus it's nice when you let me redo your hair." Duo laughed at that. But he smiled at Heero as a way of making sure Heero knew he was grateful.

"So you want to braid my hair?" Duo teased. "Is that where this is going? And here I thought we'd get to have some fun." Duo waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Heero rolled his eyes. "Too much school work to make up, maybe later; _if_ you let me re-braid your unruly hair."

"Hey! It won't cooperate today!" Duo protested. He was then back to laughing as he added, "But yes, you can redo it if you absolutely _have_ to."

"Of course," Heero retorted. "After all," he switched to an Irish accent, "it's a matter a life an deat!"

"Have you really remembered Oscar that well?" Duo asked as he quirked an amused eyebrow. Heero nodded. "Then that would explain why you weren't up when I came in, after all 'the boss don't get up till nine thirty even the feds know that!'." Heero smiled and decided why the hell not? Duo was challenging him to see who could remember the most lines, and he knew Oscar by heart.

(A/N: these next lines are from the movie Oscar, and anything underlined has your classic mob boss and follower accent, just so you know.)

"This better be good." Heero continued.

"I warned him boss. Antny said it was a matter of life and death boss." Duo replied.

"Will you mugs stop calling me boss it ain't proper."

"Sorry boss."

"Mornin doc," Heero switched the conversation.

"Now, now Mr. Provolone, where's those g's?" Duo switched to his flawless imitation of Dr. Pool (A/N: Tim Curry YAY!! squee He's so good in that role!).

"Right here."

"No, no. You're not annunciating. Good mor_ning_ Doctor _Pool_."

(A/N: I'll stop now because I know this'll get out of hand _real_ quick if I don't, sweatdrops.)

They continued to banter lines from that movie back and forth as they finished eating. Duo and Heero were still going strong as they washed the dishes, and had nearly done the entire movie. Heero was struck by divine influence as he came up with a way to throw Duo off his game.

Duo had expected Heero to kiss him or hug him from behind or something like that to throw him off. He was prepared for it. That's why he stood in complete shock when Heero made his move. If he had been holding a dish he would have dropped it.

Heero had pinched his butt. That was totally a non-Heero move.

"Looks like I win," Heero commented as he put the last dish up. Duo narrowed his eyes at him, it was _on_ now!

"I'll go get the brush," Duo stated sweetly as he walked past Heero. He slapped Heero's butt in revenge and continued walking as it was Heero's turn to be shocked.

_If its war you want,_ Heero thought, _its war you'll get._

Heero sat on the couch and waited for Duo to return. Duo came back with Heero's brush—how had he known where it was?—and sat playfully on Heero's lap. Heero rolled his eyes and took the brush from him.

Heero undid Duo's braid, and then began to slowly comb the mess out. Duo instantly relaxed, it felt really good to have someone else comb his hair for a change. Heero chuckled at Duo's reaction and let himself relax as well. Duo's hair was so soft, and always smelled of black raspberries and vanilla. They sat in silence as Heero finished and re-braided Duo's hair. He tied it off and then hugged his love, resting his head on Duo's shoulder.

Duo leaned into him, and Heero responded by nipping at his ear.

"Again?" Duo moaned. "Aren't we the horny one?"

"Only because you react so well," Heero retorted. He bit down on the ear lobe and Duo moaned louder.

The doorbell decided to pick that particular moment to interrupt them. Heero growled and decided to ignore it. He moved from Duo's ear to his neck and began to suck.

The door opened and Heero cursed under his breath, causing shivers to run down Duo's spine.

"Fei-baby!" Duo called in greeting. "What impeccable timing, Hee-chan and I were just talking about how wonderful it would be if you could join us and make this a threesome."

Wu Fei was holding his nose and looking elsewhere. "Quatre just wanted to know if you'd like to go to his place for lunch," Wu Fei informed them.

"I'm already having it," Heero commented. Wu Fei blushed furiously as Duo sighed.

"Might as well continue afterwards," Duo said. "Quat can be quite angry when he wants to be." Duo stood up and headed for the door. He turned back to stare at Heero. "Comin hun?"

Heero sighed and got up. "Hn."

"Oh, you're not happy," Duo observed as he noticed Heero resorting back to one syllable answers. Heero glared at him as a way of saying, 'no, really?' Duo rolled his eyes and put an arm around Heero's waist. They walked like that to Quatre's house with Wu Fei walking decidedly in front of them after having seen Heero grope Duo's butt.

Heero had gotten over his irritation by the time they had gotten to Quatre's place, and soon they were all sitting in one of his gardens simply chatting.

"Did anyone get a message from the doctors?" Duo asked.

"No," Quatre answered as Trowa shook his head.

"Why the sudden question Maxwell," Wu Fei replied after he and Heero had also confirmed that they had not.

"Dr. G sent me a message," Duo explained. "He wanted me to stop taking the medicine he's been giving me, and said he would soon need my services to, 'start insuring peace would continue on' or something like that. I forwarded it to Une, and was just curious if you'd gotten mail."

"Didn't Une say G was working individually, and that the others were against him?" Trowa inquired.

Duo got big eyes as he remembered. "Oh yeah! She did imply that didn't she?"

"I think you shouldn't do as he says," Quatre stated. "We don't know what he's up to."

"I was on my last pill," Duo replied. "I can't not follow them, because he was the one who supplied me."

"Can you duplicate them," Wu Fei inquired.

"Nope, they're halfway made of unknown substances that aren't in any database _any_where."

"Not even J's?" Heero asked. Duo shook his head. Heero gave an agitated sigh. "So I just have to sit and watch while you have muscle spasms because you can't take the pills for it and the bottle Rodger gave me is out?"

"I'm sorry but yes?" Duo answered with a shrug. "The pills may have been causing it for all I know, and the spasms may have simply been from withdrawal."

"There is that possibility," Wu Fei commented.

"Did you use the last pill trying to find out if you could duplicate it?" Trowa inquired. Duo nodded. "Then I guess we'll find out soon if they stop after a period of time."

"True," Duo commented. The look on his face indicated he hadn't even thought of that before. Suddenly his eyes grew large and he was on his feet running away before anyone knew what was happening. They all got up and chased after him, worried.

"Stay back!" Duo yelled at them. "Shinigami's much more powerful right now, and I don't want to hurt you!"

"What are you talking about?" Heero cried.

"Just stay back!" Duo answered. "He'll—" Duo stopped and stood rigid. Black waves erupted from him, and Trowa made the others stop advancing.

Heero began to protest but Trowa cut him off, "Look around. See that bird?" They all looked to where he was pointing. A bird was flying above a tree and Duo's black wave was in its path. The bird touched it and dropped dead immediately. "Now look at the plants," Trowa continued. "Anything a black wave touches dies." It was true. Random patches of dead vegetation littered Quatre's normally flourishing garden.

They wouldn't be able to help Duo. Heero scowled at every black wave he could see as Wu Fei let loose a string of Chinese curses. Quatre clung to Trowa for support; he was feeling a giant shock from the sudden death around them because of his empathy.

Heero felt a nagging at the back of his brain. It was… odd. But… he found he couldn't go against it. His feet began to move forward even as he tried to figure the feeling out. Everyone called out for him to stop, but they didn't make a move to stop him. They just couldn't make their bodies move towards him.

A black wave connected with Heero's arm, and it was as if a door in his brain had been unlocked. The nagging in his brain had been telling him to go to stop Duo. It was also something driven into his very core by centuries of his ancestors doing much the same thing. With renewed vigor Heero plowed through the black waves and over to Duo.

Heero reached out and grabbed Duo's arm roughly. He gritted his teeth against the onslaught of magical power and commanded, "Stop."

Duo looked at him with pure ebony eyes. He reached out and grabbed onto Heero's shoulders for support. But… Heero felt those eyes stare deep into his soul, down to the very core of his being. Something inside him stirred. Something he hadn't felt since J had given him an odd shot to, 'cure him of the stupid magic'.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a violent scream that tore through his core. It was Duo screaming, yet not a sound had uttered from his mouth. Duo collapsed against his arms, and Heero put his arms around his waist in order to support him. The waves were gone, yet Duo… Heero's eyes widened in shock.

Duo's pants had shredded off, showing a violet and teal tail that ended in two sweeping fins. Duo's arms had what seemed to be miniature webbed wings on them in much the same coloring, and the space between his fingers was also webbed. Duo looked up at him with his normal violet eyes and gave him a tired smirk.

"Good thing I wore a tank-top today, huh?" Duo joked in a tired voice. Heero just shook his head. He then starred in confusion at the fin-type things that had replaced Duo's ears and were sticking out of his hair. "Get me to the pool and I'll explain this." Heero just dumbly nodded and picked Duo up bridal style. They all made their way to the pool, where Duo took off his shirt and dived under the water.

"Okay, so I've got this odd mermaid type form that I turn into when I use excessive amounts of power," Duo explained.

"But what was the waves-of-death thing about," Wu Fei asked.

Duo shrugged. "I have no clue. I just knew that Shinigami was going to come out and kill something, and didn't want you guys hurt."

Heero observed Duo's form closely. The two colors had seemed to be fading into one another all over Duo's tail and fins, but as he looked closely he noticed a very small pattern that simply gave that impression. Duo's fin-wing things actually started at his shoulder blades, and his hands were the tips of them.

"And why didn't you tell us about this," Quatre asked, hurt displayed on his face. "We all told each other our powers, and I think this classifies as one."

"It's only happened three times, and I had thought they weren't going to happen again," Duo defended. "Plus G told me that he it was simply a phase and that I wouldn't transform again. I wasn't trying to hide it, honest, I just didn't think it was important."

"It's okay then," Quatre replied. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was my fault," Duo responded. So that was one person satisfied. "Are you okay Heero?" Duo tentatively asked.

Heero nodded. "Just… curious as to why your, 'magic', I guess, didn't affect me."

"My clan once talked of a magical creature that could cause any magical powers to cease," Wu Fei commented. "Perhaps that is the power J never let you think of."

"Makes sense," Duo added, "after all I was only able to stop it after I grabbed onto you, and you were holding me."

"Maybe," Heero said. "It'd explain a few curious things that happened when I was younger."

"You should start trying to control the change," Trowa told Duo. "I know a lot about magical animals as well, and this is something that you can make happen at will."

"And you all should see what it is _you_ guys turn into," Duo replied after nodding. "I know you guys can do it too, but don't ask me how I know, or what you'll turn into."

"We should all practice then," Heero stated.

"We can do it here in the afternoons after school," Quatre added. They all agreed, and then decided to join Duo in the pool for a swim, as it appeared that Duo wouldn't change back for quite some time.

A/N: Oscar is a great movie featuring Sylvester Stallone as Chicago's #1 gangster "Snaps" Provolone, who promises his dying father that he'd become an honest man. On the day he has detirmined to do it three months later everything simply goes haywire! It's a great comedy and I was watching it before I started typing this chapter.

But anyway, yeah, I made Duo a mermaid, sorta. It's complicated and will be explained later. Don't bother asking about anyone else's forms, I only know Heero's at this moment but I'm not going to spoil that one. Hope to have the next chap. up sooner, but I'm still kinda outta steam when it comes to typing. I can't make promises as to when I'll update, but I can promise that I'll work on it this week, TTFN!


	14. G's Threat of Peace

A/N: Omg, I'm soooooo sorry for the long wait! My muse and I had parted for a little while, yet she came back once I decided to just move ahead in the plot. Because of this the story may not take long to end, but it was either that or stall a month. I hope all the action in this one makes up for the wait!

Ch. 14

Somehow they had managed to get their work done by Monday morning—which was no small feat, Heero couldn't seem to keep his hands off of Duo for more than a minute—and were ready for the tests. Well, Duo would be if his butt wasn't so sore.

"Are you alright Duo?" Quatre asked during science for the fiftieth time.

"You'd think Heero was in heat or something," Duo mumbled back. Sitting in a chair for two hours at a time to do tests was _not_ what he needed right now. So he simply opted to finish the test as soon as possible and then sleep some, it'd take his brain off the pain.

"Any last questions," their teacher asked.

"Why must we suffer these damned CRT's anyway?" Duo asked.

"School system rules, now shut up and begin the test," he shot back. Duo sighed and opened his test book; it was going to be a _long_ week.

At lunch Duo opted to lay on his stomach after he finished eating, to give his sore behind a rest.

"Are you alright love," Heero asked as he put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Are you really a werewolf and some sort of moon phase has caused you to go into heat?" Duo inquired. Heero laughed and gave him a wry smile.

"I'm sorry love," Heero answered. "I wonder myself if that's the case. I'm sorry." Heero leaned over and kissed the top of Duo's head.

Duo sighed. "It's okay; I can't stay mad at you when you act like that."

"You're soooo lucky Duo," Stephanie commented with a wistful sigh. "You've got a regular prince charming that's kind and considerate, romantic, _and_ can't keep his hands off you."

"Of course," Trowa remarked with a sly smile, "isn't that the stereotype of all gay men?"

"Oh why is life so cruel?!" Stephanie cried as she swooned to the ground dramatically. "All I ask for is one man like that, _one man_, as payment for my lifetime of servitude!"

"Cut it out Steph," Duo retorted, "just because you can't get one doesn't give you the right to drool all over mine."

"Caught red handed, damn," Stephanie replied. Duo rolled his eyes and rested his head on Heero's lap as Heero began to stroke his hair. It was soothing. He drifted off to sleep contently, and was rudely awakened by the bell. Grumbling, he went to his next class of Hell.

By Wednesday he was feeling a bit better. That still didn't stop him from simply laying with his head on Heero's knee after school at Quatre's pool though.

"You really can't stand tests can you," Quatre asked him.

"Nope," Duo answered. "Tests are fucking easy and I'm done in ten minutes, and then I have to sit still and can't even go to sleep for the next two hours."

"You poor thing," Wu Fei snidely commented.

"Fuck off Fei," Duo retorted.

"Let's not start another fight," Heero said as he began to stroke Duo's hair. "We don't want a repeat of yesterday." Duo had to grin in remembrance; after flipping water onto him after turning into his mer form—he'd finally been able to do it consciously—they had found out that an angered Wu Fei turned into a half-Dragon thing, complete with tail, scales, and fiery breath. No wings though.

Wu Fei smirked from where he sat. Duo stuck his tongue out at him.

"Let's just practice again," Trowa interrupted. Duo sighed and regretfully dragged himself from Heero's lap.

"You first," Duo stated. Trowa shrugged and closed his eyes. He slowly grew stripes and claws, and then opened his eyes. "Is that it?" Duo asked with one piqued eyebrow for Trowa hadn't ever transformed before. Trowa nodded.

"How about you Quatre?" Heero interjected before Duo could make a rude teasing comment.

"I can't transform," Quatre answered, shaking his head. "I have found that I can read minds easier if I concentrate, and have been practicing on a few staff members that I have gotten permission from." Heero nodded.

"Fine," Duo exclaimed as he threw his hands in the air. "I'll go turn into merboy because it's so obviously my turn!" Duo grumbled and got into the pool.

Duo emptied all the air from his lungs as he rid himself of his swimming trunks and shirt. He dove, taking in a deep breath of the air in the water. He felt his legs attaching and melding into each other, lengthening as they did. He felt his short wing-fins grow from his arms as he sped along the bottom, and soon it was as if they were helping him fly beneath the waves.

Okay, so it was a pool and not the ocean, it wasn't his fault if a poetic metaphor fit the sensation better.

Duo felt his ears grow, and knew the transformation was complete. He swam up to the surface and hung on the side of the pool, staring at his friends. "Happy?"

"You did it the first time," Quatre remarked. "Great job Duo!"

"Yeah, yeah break out the champagne," Duo replied with a roll of his eyes. The air tensed and changed. Duo felt spines rising up on his back as his coloring changed to a violent purple. Something threatening was coming.

"You've never done that before," Wu Fei commented, oblivious to the change in the air. "What's up?"

"Don't you idiots sense that?!" Duo hissed. He looked upward to see a bat-winged man dive down towards them. All instincts on the defensive, Duo shoved a hand upward. He closed his eyes and reached deep inside for the great ball of power inside him. He had secretly practiced on various plants in the house with his father's help—his dad turned out to be very adept and familiar with magical ongoings—and was now able to aim his death waves at different objects. Controlling the course and releasing one or two at will was about all he could do, though.

He shot the black wave at the winged man just as the others noticed it. The batman—Duo would laugh at that name later—dodged with skilled ease as he swooped out of the dive. With one mighty beat of his wings he was soaring upwards, Heero in his talon-toed grasp.

"Heero!" Duo cried as he summoned up the power to hurl another wave.

Heero clung to the legs of the creature in something that was not quite fear. He had always loved high places, it simply felt like he belonged in the air, yet he hated someone else being in control. He couldn't even handle someone else driving a car he was in, which was why he always walked instead of taking a taxi.

"Mission complete," his captor said into a small mike. "I've got the objective; I'm taking him back now doctor." Heero frowned at the one-sided conversation. Wasn't Dr. G acting suspiciously lately? Could it be him?

Heero was brought out of his musings by a storm of black waves that the creature was now dodging. He wasn't scarred of getting hit by them; after all…… wait, would it work with this creature too?

Heero closed his eyes and concentrated on the talons loosing their hard grip, and being more like fleshy toes. He soon felt the change. Giving a silent cry of triumph Heero concentrated on the man being human once again. A few moments later the creature started to falter, as if loosing his wings.

"Fei!" Duo cried as he saw the batman begin to transform back to a human. He jumped at Wu Fei, who swung him around once and launched him into the air towards Heero.

"Heero!" Duo called out. Heero opened his eyes and looked at him as Duo shot upwards with his arms reaching out. Heero let go of the man as Duo got close, instead falling to grab Duo around the waist. Duo's tail wrapped around him for better support and Duo opened up his arms, using them to glide as the batman crashed into a tree.

"Thank you, koi," Heero remarked as they slowly circled down to the pool.

"No problem," Duo replied. "I couldn't loose my lover to a creature of the _sky_ now could I?"

"You seem to handle the sky just fine," Heero retorted. That comment had hit a spot in his pride for some unknown reason.

"Yeah well," Duo continued, "I like the water better." Duo gracefully landed in the water.

Okay so it was the equivalent of a boulder doing a cannon ball, it wasn't as if he had hit the ground!

Heero came up for air at the same time Duo did. Duo sheepishly grinned at him and Heero couldn't help but to laugh.

"What was that all about?" Trowa asked. Wu Fei was busy chasing the frantically transforming batman off with his fire-breath. Duo shrugged as Heero gave Trowa an incredulous stare. He expected them to know?

Quatre's brow was creased in strain and answered, "I think I can read that he was sent to capture Heero for Dr. G to—ah!" Quatre went sprawling backwards and Trowa rushed to his side.

"You okay Quat?" Duo anxiously inquired.

Quatre rubbed his head and replied, "I'll be fine with some rest, he threw me out rather forcefully."

Wu Fei came trotting back, trying to return to normal as he did. "I chased him off," he informed them.

"Okay so the now-singed batman is after Heero to deliver him to G," Duo commented. He turned back to his human form as well as Heero climbed out and handed him his clothes. Duo put them on and accepted a hand up from Heero. "So we should grab enough stuff to last a while, call Sally and tell her, and then hole up here as his bodyguards. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded, and so soon they set off to get their things from their houses. Duo was going to get Heero's from Heero's house and then move on to his own. The Maganac and Quatre were guarding him while they were gone.

About two hours later they were still waiting for Duo when Quatre's butler showed Mr. Sullivan in. He seemed deeply troubled by something.

"Is Duo here?" he asked before anyone could speak.

"No, is something wrong?" Quatre replied.

"He had called, explaining the situation," Mr. Sullivan explained. "But that was two hours ago, and then one hour ago he said he was heading home. We've been looking for half and hour because he was taking longer than he should, and we can't find him!"

"What's wrong here Mr. Sullivan?" Sally asked as she came into the room.

"Duo's missing!"

"Shit!" Sally cursed as she hit a nearby end table. "He got him."

"What's wrong?"

Everyone turned at the familiar sound of Dr. J's voice. They saw him and the others—excluding G—standing in a doorway.

"G got Duo," Sally told him.

"What's going on?" Heero demanded. He didn't like this turn of events one bit.

"G has recently started carrying out his plan of mass destruction," J informed them. "He has set up a giant magical amplifier that will direct Duo's unique abilities all over the Earth and colonies. We have been unable to find out where it is, and only recently found out about his plans. Yet that shouldn't have been a problem," he blamed them.

Heero looked at the ground in shame.

"We thought he was after Heero," Quatre defended his friends. "The bat creature tried to abduct him and not Duo after all."

"No doubt a ploy to get Duo to come willingly." J brushed off the remark.

"We'll get started on finding him now," Heero stated as he stood up. With a nod to Sally he rushed up to his room so he could work on his laptop.

He slammed the door shut behind him and collapsed on the floor, pounding his fists into the carpet so hard he could feel the wood beneath. How could he have been so stupid?! G was _Duo's_ doctor; of course he would be after him!! They should have gone out in guarded teams, or not at all!!

A knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts. He starred at his now bloodied knuckles, splinters sticking out of a few places.

Quatre entered the room and sighed at the site. "Please Heero," he told the brunette, "Don't do this. We couldn't see it coming, even if we should have. Let's clean that wound, get to the Preventer headquarters, and then we'll start searching for him. Alright?"

Heero stood and nodded. He walked out the door and headed down the stairs. Quatre sighed and followed. Duo was the only one who could get Heero to take care of his wounds when he got like this. Quatre truly believed they were meant for each other, they completed each other and supported each other.

Yet at times like this it seemed so extremely unhealthy. Neither one really knew what to do when the other was missing. At times like this they would draw into themselves, Heero into his solider mask and Duo into his smiling one. The way Heero withdrew from humanity was disturbing, but not as frightening as Duo not allowing himself to acknowledge the problem unless he was alone. Quatre had found him during one of those time periods. The depression that had assaulted him had frightened Quatre more than almost anything else he had experienced.

Quatre sighed as they headed to headquarters. He just wished the two fools would be able to get through this and come out wholly intact.

Duo opened two heavy eyelids. He gazed about the room, not feeling fully there. He must have been drugged or something.

"Glad to see you up Duo," he heard a familiar voice say.

Duo craned his neck. "G?" he weakly asked. He couldn't see the old coot anywhere.

"You can't see me because you now exist on my plain," G answered.

"What?"

"I have a rare magical power, and I am able to become the air in any space I wish to occupy," G explained. "That is why the atmosphere feels so heavy."

Pieces of a puzzle began to click in Duo's foggy brain. "And you used this technique to train me, didn't you?"

"Very good. It helped you put up a sedative resistance, helped you to make your brain function properly and quickly while feeling foggy and slow, as well as maneuver and fight in a tense atmosphere. All of this made you faster and even more efficient during normal circumstances."

"Ingenious," Duo retorted. He could feel the lead-like air in his lungs. It was sickening to learn that it was actually G.

"Yes it was. And now comes the second part of your training. This world is sick, war will always continue as long as these humans are around. What the world needs in order to truly obtain peace is a new beginning. You are going to be the messiah that brings that about. Not J's stupid _human_ solider. How they could all think he was worth more than you I'll never know. That old coot's got too much pride in that idiot tool."

Duo felt rage spark through his languid demeanor. "Heero is worth more than you could ever think, or even J could think for that matter," Duo growled. "He _did_ bring peace about, and time after time he defeats those whishing to destroy it with no thought of his own safety besides the fact that he doesn't want to make me sad by dying!"

Pressure exploded in his head, air bubbles from his blood stream turning to beat him. Duo let out a blood-curdling scream as the pressure threatened to kill him in agony.

_Insolent boy you know not of what you speak! _G's voice rang in his head. _You are a God! What can that mortal possibly have that's better than you?! What could he ever do for peace that you will not?!_

The pressure suddenly disappeared to be replaced by an odd relaxing sensation. It was as if he were floating in a sea that massaged his every sore muscle.

_Poor child, you just don't know,_ G said in a now gentle tone. _Yet how could you? You just simply don't understand. The world you live in idolizes people like Heero and shuns true wonders like you. Yet we'll make them see, they'll realize soon enough._

"How?" Duo croaked out. He was so weary; he could hardly make his eyes blink. "I'm the God of Death, how can that bring peace?"

_Only through Death can life truly begin again. As it is on earthen forests, so it will be with the humans. Destroy them and then raise the only generation still alive with reverence towards all life. That will stop wars. That will enable true peace. You'll see, we will raise them to be better. _

Before Duo could protest the insanity of this plan the lead air around him changed subtly and forced his brain to slip into sleep.

A/N: There it is. The plot unraveled, what will happen next? I'm going to go pound furiously at the keyboard some more now, because I want to make up for the long absence. I would also like to finish the story before school starts on the 20th. I may have another chap. up later on tonight, TTFN!

P.S.- Yes, I made Dr. G a crazy, but it seems very much like something any of the doctors could easily end up doing doesn't it?


	15. Waiting Period

A/N: Here's the next chapter. There will only be a few after this one, as I can't figure out anything else to put in between this one and the climax. This one is a bit shorter than the others, and I'm sorry for that. But it's full of drama so there's quality if not quantity!

Ch. 15

Heero sat starring at the screen. It had been two weeks since Duo had been abducted. It was wearing on his nerves. They were all currently stationed at some place on Earth. They were inland but near the coast and a very long island that held a large jade crystal spire. Catherine and Hilde were with them, looking after them. They came in bringing lunch.

"Lunch time guys," Hilde called.

"You all need to eat if you want to be able to help Duo," Catherine added. She had to say that line when trying to take care of the boys otherwise Heero would not eat, bathe, or sleep. This time Heero did not seem to notice though. He was sitting in his chair like normal, hands paused above the keyboard.

Hilde walked over to see what the matter was. The screen showed nothing of importance, yet Heero's eyes were half-lidded and glazed over.

"Uh, Quatre?" she asked nervously, "Is this normal?"

Quatre looked over and his brow creased. "What's wrong Heero?" he asked.

Heero blinked and jerked out of his trance. "No time to eat," he quickly mumbled before he started burning holes into the worn keyboard. Hilde shrugged at the other's questioning looks and went back over to them.

"Wu Fei," Heero barked, "pull up a separate screen and start searching on the compounds in the crystal spire. Particularly if they could be used to magnify magical powers. Trowa, look up the buildings around it and see if any are a prime hiding place for G."

Trowa and Wu Fei immediately got up to do as they were told. Quatre went to help Trowa while waiting for any orders Heero might have for him. He didn't have to wait long.

"Quatre, look through the files the doctors provided us to see if we can connect anything in there to this site," Heero ordered. Quatre quickly went to his own station and pulled up the files.

Heero could only use the tone of his voice to tell them to hurry. He didn't know how long they had, and he could sense that Duo was in pain.

_How dare you!_ G screamed in his mind. Duo thrashed and gripped his head, vainly trying to make the pain stop. G had been doing something, and finally one worker was stupid enough to leak the info of where he was to Duo after some batted eyelashes.

_Don't you want peace to reign?! How can you achieve your destiny if you continue to do this?!_

"This isn't the way to peace," Duo screamed through a chocked throat. When your tormenter is the very air inside your body it makes it quite hard to escape.

_I'll just have to teach you a lesson then!_

Duo felt his odd new connection with Heero—the one he'd used to tell him where he was—grow. His eyes widened in terror as he felt G travel along that connection.

"No!" Duo cried. "Don't hurt him!"

Heero fell to the ground from his chair with a clatter, clutching at his head as an intense pressure pounded on his brain relentlessly.

"Stop!" Duo was crying now. "You're gonna kill him!"

_Only if you refuse to bring peace and continue to fight me,_ G warned.

"I won't fight you anymore I promise," Duo sobbed. "Just let him go."

G's presence sank back to him and became comforting once again.

_Dear Duo, this is what this supposed peace brings. So many people go through that kind of torment. You can bring an end to such suffering. Just lend me your power and everything will be fine._

Duo nodded as his sobs slowly came under control. Just as long as he didn't hurt Heero, nothing could happen to Heero. He wouldn't be able to live if he lost him.

_Doesn't he deserve to live in a world where he gets to live in the peace he created and not have to fight for it still?_ G asked this question with the sudden revelation of how he should have approached this all along.

"He does," Duo said aloud. He could feel G's smug smile. Yet it was very beneficial that G couldn't read his mind, for he added mentally, _Just not the kind you have to offer._

Heero sat up slowly and rubbed his temples.

"Are you alright Heero?" Quatre asked. They were all kneeling around him with worried faces.

Heero nodded. "I don't know what happened," he answered before anyone got the chance to ask.

Wu Fei's computer chose that moment to beep at them. Wu Fei went back over to it and proclaimed, "The crystal spire is like a giant amplifier, how'd you know?"

"Duo told me," Heero answered as Trowa helped him up. "I suddenly heard his voice in my head, telling me he was near the spire."

"Then it's safe to assume G will use the spire for his plan," Trowa observed. Heero nodded.

"We just need to find Duo and get him out of there soon," Heero stated. "I don't know how much longer we have."

Duo awoke after drifting off to sleep once more. This time G was standing in front of him as a human, not air.

"It is time Duo," G said. "I must know if you are truly devoted to giving Heero the true peace he deserves."

"I am," Duo replied. His brain felt, weird. Like someone had messed with it. He couldn't feel his odd connection to Heero, he could hardly think straight. Why did it seem like G was bad and wrong?

"Then let me teach you about your power," G said as he held out a hand. Duo hesitated a moment because of a nagging at the back of his brain, and then took the offered hand.

G led him by the hand down a long system of corridors. They were underground, he could tell. Somehow.

"You have a great power to bring peace to the world," G told him. "We have been depending on you to fulfill your destiny for a long time. You have a power at your core that allows you to connect with every living being on Earth. The spire will allow you to reach into the vast reaches of space."

Duo looked around at the children he could see through windows in the corridors playing happily in fake—though realistic looking—gardens. They all looked peaceful and happy.

"We have been raising generations of people with nothing but absolute peace in mind," G continued. "The children of our small colony of people will live on and cultivate this world in absolute peace. There is not one who would try to commit a crime, for each one has been taught since birth to follow what they should or shouldn't do instead of what they could get away with. Finally, the peace you have fought for with your brothers in the outer world will come to pass. Just as soon as you eradicate the monsters inhabiting the outer world as we speak."

"Monsters?" Duo asked. He had fought? He knew he did but, it all seemed so distant. And there were more people he knew than just G and Heero?

"Yes, those unlawful people who live out there," G answered with disgust. "They do nothing but seek new ways to destroy one another. This is why they have earned the title of monsters."

"Why don't I remember this war," Duo asked, "if you say I fought in it?" He felt like a child, knowing who he was, yet not being able to truly remember who he was.

"You witnessed horrible things out there my son," G answered. "I had no choice but to repress your memories." Duo looked at the man guiding him along in curiosity. Why did something seem… not quite right?

"You what?" he asked.

"It was for your own protection, and for our dream, my son. I had no choice."

"Is that why I can't remember my brothers?"

"Yes."

"Then why do I remember Heero?"

"Your bond is too strong to have been broken through the loss of your memories."

"Oh. Are you my father?"

"No."

"Then why do you keep calling me son?"

"Because I was charged with your caretaking."

"Doesn't that make you a dad though?"

"No."

"But dads take care of kids. That's what you do, so you must be my dad!"

"Will you stop this?" G demanded angrily. "There are more important things than that!"

"Like what?" Duo replied.

"Fulfilling your destiny!" G snapped.

Duo felt something in his head snap. A vision… no, memory, of G yelling at him in much the same tone.

'No, you idiot boy! Didn't you listen! That's not the way you fix Deathscythe's thruster!' the remembered G had yelled.

"I see you've realized what truly matters now, haven't you," the current G asked.

"Yes," Duo answered. He swallowed his pride as he remembered his life again, and betrayed his oath to never lie. "Fulfilling my destiny is all that matters."

G smiled and nodded his head. "That's right. No come this way, we've got to begin your training."

Duo trailed after him faithfully, trying to hold in his urge to vomit. Here he was, betraying Father Maxwell and Sister Helen by lying. He felt like a traitor. Yet he knew he would have to shut up and do it, and perhaps many more later on. Because he needed to make G thought he was still clueless and compliant if he had any chance of stopping this mad plot.

Duo looked at a window again. The children playing behind it weren't real; he could now tell it was all a giant illusion. Yet G truly seemed to believe that these holographs were real children. The man was seriously in need of the rubber room Duo had almost been forced into.

Duo forced himself to focus as G led him into an elevator. He would need to look for anyway out during his 'training'.

Heero lay on the bed Trowa and Wu Fei had finally forced him into. He starred up at the ceiling, not really seeing anything. Trowa was off sleeping himself somewhere, and Wu Fei was sprawled on top of him, pinning him to the bed. They had both had to sit on him before, making him stay down.

He hadn't allowed himself to stop working for anything for four days now. Wu Fei had held him down as Quatre force fed him, and then they had nearly knocked him out to get him into bed. Yes, he was tired. It didn't matter. Finding Duo was all that mattered. It was beginning to wear on him, and he could tell that something bad was about to happen.

Did G need Duo alive? Or would G kill him if Duo resisted too much? Heero hated not knowing.

"Sleep, Yuy," Wu Fei told him.

"Can't," Heero replied.

"You can't keep doing this," Wu Fei sighed. "How will you be ale to help Maxwell if you wear yourself into the ground before we even find him?"

"Because if I take time doing anything else Duo may die before I find him!" Heero cried. Wu Fei raised his head up and starred him in the eye.

"Maxwell's powers will not work if he is dead," Wu Fei informed him. "G will keep him alive. He also won't hurt him because the more injured Duo is the less effective his powers will be, and G will need him in top shape."

"How do you know?" Heero weekly inquired. He wanted to know for certain, wanted to believe him, yet he couldn't stop his fear.

"I had a magic teacher for a while," Wu Fei answered. "He told me this, as will any other magic user. The effectiveness of your magical abilities depends on you physical status. A weary mage cannot use a big spell. G will keep him alive."

Heero sighed. "Thank you, Wu Fei."

"You should have told me earlier. I miss him too, but at least I have the sense to know that if I'm in bad shape Maxwell will be too, for G could easily capture one of us if we were weak at the time."

Heero's eyes widened. "What?"

"If he killed one of us in front of Maxwell it would send him into a rage that would accomplish what G wants," Wu Fei answered. "The logical choice would be you, and so you need to be in shape in order to stop that from happening, so G will not succeed." Wu Fei continued in a softer voice, "It would also kill Duo to see you die. And if he knew it was because you spent so much time searching for him, he would never be able to forgive himself. It's hard enough for me to get him out of it when you simply get a deep cut because you were protecting him."

"I'm sorry, Wu Fei," Heero said as the truth of Wu Fei's words sank in. "I was just too stupid to realize."

"It's alright, I understand," Wu Fei replied. "I'm marveled that I'm able to keep my head during all of this, and I only consider Maxwell my brother. I can only imagine what you're going through right now."

Heero gave him a tired smile, which Wu Fei returned.

"Will you sleep now Yuy?" Wu Fei asked.

"Yes," Heero nodded. "Sorry for the trouble."

"Just pay me back by not being mad at the fact that I won't get off you," Wu Fei replied. Heero quirked an eyebrow.

"I give you my word I'll sleep. Do you not trust me?"

"Too tired to move," Wu Fei explained. "I haven't been getting much sleep."

Heero gave a small chuckle. "Okay. Let's just keep this a secret from Duo when he gats back, agreed?"

"Agreed."

The two were too tired to be bothered by the situation, and were soon both sleeping contentedly.

A/N: That's the end of this chap. I might have the next up tomorrow if I can get time to type. But I'm tired right now so I'm going to stop typing tonight. I'll see you next chap, TTFN!


	16. Destiny Fulfilled

A/N: Here is the second to last chapter, and don't worry, I have the next one written and will post it right after this. Enjoy!

Ch. 16

Heero and the others gathered at the coast. The island with the spire where Duo was being held seemed to glow in the setting sun, but they couldn't get to it. G had marvelous security, and they could hardly get a ship to sail over there. They had found one, but they could see guards lined all along the coast of the island. There were bound to be even more by the spire.

Silently the four pilots set sail as they crept along in the growing darkness. According to J, they had until dark. G would make his move then.

Duo finally revealed his charade as he fought against G. The old man was trying to make the crystal spire absorb him, and he wasn't going to let that happen.

"It's the only way to fulfill your destiny," G snapped as he shoved Duo against the base of the spire.

"There has to be another way!" Duo retorted. "You always have choices, isn't that what you taught me yourself?!"

"When you're fighting Oz," G answered. "Not when it comes to this!"

Duo froze as he began to sink into the spire. Panic flooded his brain as he found himself being pulled deeper and deeper.

He had to get out.

Heero urged the boat on faster as the sun set. He could feel Duo's panic, and the air rang with fear. He didn't know what this process would entail. It could be very possible that G would have to kill Duo to do it.

He couldn't let that happen.

The spire lifted Duo slowly, bringing him to the top. It was filled with water, and Duo was forced to adopt his mer form in order to keep from drowning. He had a sickening feeling it was what G wanted.

He could feel Heero at the edge of his brain, and knew they were coming to him as fast as they could. They were on land now, running and very close.

The stars blinked into existence as Duo broke the surface of the top of the spire. It lifted him higher until it held him at the waist down, the top half of his shirtless body exposed to the air.

Heero wouldn't make it in time.

They rushed through the gate, disarming rather quickly the guards they ran into. Heero's heart beat inside his chest faster than it had before.

Wu Fei pointed to the top of the spire, which was now glowing faintly. He could barely see Duo atop it.

Heero realized he was too late.

_Accept your destiny,_ G told Duo.

"How?" Duo asked. He needed to know what he had to avoid. The strange power in his core glowed brightly inside his mind, and Duo suddenly realized what he needed to do.

_Do you now know,_ G inquired?

"Yes." Duo closed his eyes. In his mind he reached out and grasped his core, allowing himself to be filled with its power. The spire glowed even more brightly than ever, and he knew he had to tread carefully.

He could connect to everyone, yet he only sought out one person.

_Heero,_ he called.

"Duo?" Heero replied. He closed his eyes and tried to make sense of the voice he had heard.

_Yes Heero, it's me,_ Duo answered. _And I need your help._

"What is it?" Heero asked. "How can I possibly help?"

_J was right, you have a great magical power. But there is more than you think. I can see a door in your mind that will unleash it, but it can never be closed again._ Heero could hear Duo sigh. _That power will enable you to stop me, with your help I can keep G's mad plan from happening. But I need your permission. You will never be able to get rid of it, so please think carefully about this. _

"I will do whatever is needed," Heero answered with only a moment's hesitation.

_Then I will open the door. _Duo opened the door that held Heero's powers locked inside. He felt terrible about doing this, but they truly had no other choice.

Heero felt a warmth seep through him slowly.

Heero suddenly fell to the ground, back bleeding in agony.

"Heero, what's—" Quatre asked. He didn't get a chance to finish as two large white wings burst forth from Heero's back. Shirt remnants flying, Heero stood and looked at the spire with newfound determination. Extending his wings for the first time, Heero beat them once and took off, instinct driving his movements.

Duo fought the urge to reach out to every living being as the night lights got brighter. There were cities on the main land, and their people called to him. He knew he would kill them if he allowed himself to touch them; he just had to wait a little while longer.

Heero would come, he had to.

Duo felt G scream in rage in his head and looked up. Heero flew towards him on the wings of an angel, looking every bit like a prince riding off to battle. Duo gave a relieved smile.

G's presence in the air shifted, and launched towards Heero like a missile.

"Heero no!" Duo screamed, knowing G meant to kill him.

Heero wavered in the air for a few moments, and then Duo felt something in his love change. Heero passed right through G as if he weren't there, and collided rather awkwardly into Duo.

"Oh Heero!" Duo cried as he clung to him. Heero hugged him back and smiled into his loose hair.

"I'm so glad you're alright," Heero told him.

"I will be as soon as I stop myself from killing everyone in the universe," Duo dryly remarked. Heero pulled back and gave him a perplexed stare. "I'll explain later, but right now I need your help. If I channel my power through you, your power will dispel its affect and no one will die."

"Can't you just stop it from happening altogether?" Heero inquired with a piqued eyebrow.

"No," Duo bitterly replied. "This crystal spire forces me too. It'll be destroyed when I finish my task." Duo looked Heero straight in the eye, and Heero could see tears in his love's eyes.

"What's the matter love?" Heero tenderly asked.

"You could die!" Duo proclaimed. Tears escaped the boundaries of his eyes as he continued, "The power that will course through us will kill me, but if I channel it through you I might end up killing you too!"

Heero cupped Duo's cheek with one hand, wiping away the tears. "It is not your fault if it does happen," Hero told Duo. "Besides, I would rather go with you, protecting this world we both love, than having to live on without you."

Duo gave him a sad smile. "Thank you, Heero."

"Let's start," Heero replied.

Duo nodded. Duo grabbed Heero's shoulders and placed his forehead on Heero's. Taking a deep breath, Duo let go of all the barriers he had put up around his powers. He focused only on channeling it through Heero, envisioned his power flowing through Heero and then going out to reach all the people he could.

Heero felt icy fire spread through him. It was painful, and he had to grit his teeth. It was like getting his heart ripped out time and time again. Yet the fire left him harmless, so he was convinced it was working. The icy fire's deathly sting had nowhere to go but back to Duo, though, and it did.

Duo fought to hold his focus as agony whipped through him. His power was assaulting his heart. It was so painful, but he couldn't loose focus now. He would kill everyone then. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let the peace he and Heero had fought so hard for be ripped from them because he hadn't been able to concentrate. He'd never forgive himself if that happened.

Duo could feel Heero's arms circling his waist. Heero was lending him strength, and Duo found a peace settling through the panicked pain.

_This_ was his destiny. To save the world and his love. Not destruction. He suddenly knew how to go about it, and channeling his power through Heero was soon all he thought of. He was detached from his body, thinking only of Heero, only of that night, when they had walked through the gardens of Sanq after the war. He couldn't feel the pain anymore, only the love of Heero's eyes.

"Everything will be alright," Duo whispered to his love. His final lie.

Duo knew he had one thing left to do. Disconnecting from Heero he dived into the crystal spire, seeking out G's presence. He found him, and enveloped G in a shroud of death so great the crystal rang out with it.

Heero felt Duo's power suddenly die, and Duo's body went limp in his arms.

"Duo?" he called. Duo didn't answer as the crystal spire began to glow a brilliant green. The light became blinding and Heero was forced to close his eyes. A mighty crack could be heard, and then the sound of glass falling.

Heero cautiously opened his eyes. The spire was gone, and Duo was clinging to his shoulders as Heero supported their two bodies in the air. Duo's face was turned sideways and rested against his chest.

Heero caught site of Duo panting and sighed. His love was alive.

They hovered there holding each other. Once again they had saved the world, and they had somehow managed to make it out alive again.

Duo's grip began to slip, and Heero tightened his hold on his love's waist. Duo was loosing consciousness slowly, for a moment or forever?

"I love you, Heero," Duo weakly told him. Duo gave him an even weaker smile as the light in his eyes slowly faded.

"Duo!" Heero cried as Duo's body went completely limp. He couldn't believe it, it couldn't be true. Duo couldn't be dead!

A shot of agony tore through Heero as he cried out his misery and rage to the sky.

The other three pilots could only look on, helplessly, as Heero's body fell into the sea.

A/N: I do realize that I could have made it one chapter but I wanted to end this one on a bit of a clifhanger. You won't have to wait for an update though, I'm not that cruel. I'll post the next chapter now.


	17. La Fin

A/N: This is the last chapter, I hope you have all enjoyed the ride as much as I have.

Ch. 17

Heero woke up slowly, dim light filtering into his sight as he opened his eyes. He was in a large room, and there were curtains over a large window on one side. Not quite thinking straight, he got out of bed on an impulse and moved to look out the window.

Pulling the curtains back he saw a lush garden smiling in the afternoon's sunlight. Duo was sitting under a tree, and he was sure he could hear children laughing in the background.

Hadn't they died?

Perhaps they had done something worthy enough to get them sent to heaven. That had to be it. What they possibly could have done, he couldn't even begin to guess.

Even so, he opened the window and climbed out of it. He wanted to see his love.

He walked over to Duo and sat next to him. Duo didn't move.

_He must be asleep_, Heero told himself. Smiling softly he took his love into his lap and held him.

"Oh my God," he heard someone say. Heero looked up to see Quatre standing there with a dropped gardening tool. "Heero!" he proclaimed. "You're awake! God, we thought…" Heero hushed him.

"Duo's sleeping," Heero stated. "You could wake him."

Quatre's eyes narrowed in sorrow. "Heero, you don't know. You've been unconscious for a month now."

"What?" Heero asked.

"It's true," Quatre looked down. Heero felt fear creep up on him.

"And Duo?" Heero asked, dreading the answer.

"He hasn't woken either," Quatre answered softly. "I've had all the best doctors look at him, but they all say the same thing." Quatre was on the verge of tears.

"What did they say," Heero softly asked.

"They say he won't ever wake," Quatre answered. "Only his vitals are working. I'm sorry," Quatre ran off, crying. Heero sat there in shock, unmoving.

His love wouldn't wake? Ever? But, but he had said,

_Everything will be alright;_ he had heard Duo whisper to him.

"Why," Heero asked softly. It began to rain on Duo's head, but Heero couldn't see any clouds. "Why did you lie to me?" Heero vaguely realized he was crying.

How could everything have gone so wrong? They had all known they could have died at any time in the war. But he had never really believed it. Especially not Duo.

Heero clutched Duo tight to him, crying loudly and not caring. He could tell the other three pilots were there, but it didn't matter.

Duo was dead.

Nothing mattered anymore.

He could feel the warmth in him leave to seep into Duo.

"Come back," Heero pleaded, unaware he was screaming, "Come back to me!"

An eternity seemed to pass by. Then a gentle hand reached up and held his cheek. Heero opened his eyes to find himself staring into Duo's violet ones.

"I didn't lie to you," Duo softly told him. "See? Everything's alright." Heero held Duo tight, crying even harder in relief as Duo stroked his hair slowly. "I won't leave you, its okay."

Soon both pilots found themselves in a giant hug from the other three and they all just laid there in each other's arms. Spent from emotions and relief they fell asleep like that together under the large tree. The sun smiling down on them.

Three days later they were all back to normal, but none of them could be pried from each other's side. They were all explaining to Une what had happened. Duo was recounting the tale of when G had temporarily blocked his memory when he stopped suddenly.

"Duo?" Heero asked. He put an arm around his love, and suddenly had Duo clinging to him, crying.

"Father Maxwell I'm so sorry!" Duo cried in agony. "Forgive me, please! I didn't mean to lie, I swear I didn't! I just couldn't find any other way! God, Sister Helen, Father, can you ever forgive me?!"

"I'm sure they do, Duo," Wu Fei said as he came over and hugged Duo from behind. "They know the circumstances, and are proud of you."

"How could they be? Do you truly think so?"

"We know so," the other pilots all answered at the same time.

"They forgive you, Duo," Heero whispered. "They love you too much to be mad."

Duo just sank deeper into the hug and let his sobs flow to a stop. They were right, they did forgive him. He could tell, he had simply been too stupid to realize that till now.

"Duo," they heard a relieved voice say. They looked up to see Mr. Sullivan, Rodger, Melissa, and Amaria standing in the doorway.

"Dad," Duo said absently. Soon Heero and Wu Fei had to give up their hug, for the four family members took over. Duo cried as he reassured them it was okay, that everything was fine now.

"Don't do that again!" Rodger yelled at him. "I'll never forgive you if you do!"

"I'll try, I promise," Duo replied. "Besides, I can't feel my powers anymore; I think I dried them up."

"They left because you died," Heero quietly stated. Everyone went quiet and starred at him. "You died in my arms that night, after the spire was destroyed. I did something, I don't know what, and it brought you back. I think the same thing happened when you woke up in my arms three days ago. I don't know what it was, but I know I did it somehow. I think that's why mine are gone too. I used them all on you."

Duo smiled gently at him with loving eyes. "Did I hurt you that badly, that you'd unconsciously save me?"

Heero could only nod.

"I'm sorry my love," Duo said as he crawled back into Heero's lap. He kissed Heero on the cheek. "I promise, I won't do it again if there is any other way. I'm sorry I hurt you."

"I'm just glad you came back," Heero replied as he buried his head in the crook of Duo's neck. "I love you Duo," Heero whispered.

"I love you too Heero," Duo whispered back.

A month later they were able to stay away from each other for longer periods of time, but they still all lived in Quatre's house on L4. Une decided to let them forget school altogether, for they were too often having to miss because of the Preventers.

Life went on as normal, almost as if nothing had happened. Over time, their need to be by each other diminished as did their fear that it could happen again. They went back to their lives as Preventers. Zechs married Melissa, Sally and Wu Fei got married as well. Trowa and Quatre didn't need marriage, but they exchanged rings.

Duo and Heero bought each other rings as well, and considered themselves married. Surprisingly, Relena offered to finance an actual wedding for them as an apology for how horrible she had been to the two. She was still having a hard time accepting it, but she got better with each passing day. Duo and Heero passed, not wanting to make a large spectacle of their relationship.

They did get both of their last names changed to Maxwell-Yuy, though.

La Fin

A/N: The End. I hope it satisfied you all. I'm sorry if I scarred you with Duo, but I can't bring myself to write a sad ending no matter how much it may seem like it. I have thourally enjoyed writing this piece, and hope you all have enjoyed it as well. Your support and reviews have been overwhelming, and I thank each one of you for sticking with me all this time as well as for your generous support. Until the next story I put up (which shouldn't be long, I have many in the making already) I say to you goodday.

Au Revior


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